Adventure on the High Schnees
by MakaS0ul
Summary: Weiss is dragged along on a business trip by her father. While sailing to their destination, their ship is attacked by a band of pirates. She is then kidnapped, along with her guard, Pyrrha, to be held for ransom by the captain, Yang Xiao Long. What will become of Weiss and Pyrrha on the seas of Remnant? Freezerburn. Pirate AU.
1. A Brewing Storm on a Lovely Day

**Hello, hello! It's another new story! (Don't worry! Next month will be chapter two of "The Dragon Priestess") I've been sitting on the idea for this pirate story for a while, and now I've finally completed the first chapter! I love AUs so much! Hopefully this setting will be entertaining! As always, I'll talk more at the bottom, so for now, on with the chapter!**

The sea was calm, with the sun high in the air, shining brightly down on the gently rolling waves. There was nary a cloud in the sky, signaling that there were no approaching storms. Seagulls flew through the air, calling loudly to one another as they searched for a place to land.

Beneath their wings, a large galleon was sailing through the calm waters. The large white sails were unfurled, catching as much wind as possible and propelling the ship swiftly forward. The ship's size could easily rival that of a warship, though instead of soldiers, it carried the prestigious Schnee family.

Weiss Schnee let out a sigh. Under normal circumstances, she would be enjoying the pleasant weather, but with her father onboard the ship, relaxing in peace and quiet was impossible.

Their ship, _The Kalt,_ was on its way towards the kingdom of Vale. Tyrann Schnee, Weiss's father, was planning to establish a branch of the Schnee Trading Company on one of Vale's coastlines, further expanding their hand in the world trade market. Unfortunately for Weiss, Tyrann had insisted that she come along to gain experience in large-scale negotiations.

She sighed once more from her spot along the side of the ship, resting her chin on her palm. Her long white dress fluttered about her ankles, tickling her skin. For a moment, she closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth of the sunlight on her pale skin. That moment though, was quickly interrupted by a shout of, "Weiss!"

Slowly, she straightened from her spot and turned to face her father. He descended the stairs from the upper deck where his quarters were. A white-gloved hand glided down the railing as he trained his eyes on her.

His black leather boots thudded against the deck as he walked towards her. When he was about a foot away, he stopped, clasping his hands behind his back.

"What is it, sir?" she said in the most subservient tone she could muster. While Tyrann was her father, he had never acted like one. To her, he was something of a superior, like a tyrant king ruling over her. And like an actual tyrant, he would deal out punishment to whomever in whatever way he saw fit; the scar trailing down from her left brow to her cheek bone was proof of that.

He grunted. "When we arrive, what do I expect of you?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead releasing a breath. "I am to observe the proceedings, take note of everything done, and I am to…" She trailed off at the end. The final expectation left a rather unpleasant taste in her mouth.

Tyrann fixed Weiss with a glare, promising punishment if she did not finish her answer.

She took a deep breath, willing herself to meet her father's eyes. "I am to establish close relations with the son of our business partner."

Tyrann nodded curtly, looking towards the front of the ship. "Exactly. Your final task is the most important one. As long as it furthers our relations, it does not matter what the boy does to you. Understood?"

Weiss could only nod, though the urge to rid her stomach of its contents was growing. If her father felt he could gain a profit by doing so, he would not hesitate to sell her off. Though the reality of such a thing was a bitter pill to swallow, Weiss had been aware of it since childhood; the pain had long since dulled.

Sparing Weiss a final glance, Tyrann headed for the stairs, likely returning to his luxurious quarters. At the top of the stairs, he stopped, a hand resting on the railing.

"It will be at least one more day until we arrive. I expect you to be prepared for what is to come by then." With that, he returned to his quarters, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Weiss released a breath, feeling the tension leave her body immediately. She turned to face the ocean once more, resting her hand on her chin as she had earlier.

"Miss Weiss? Is everything alright?" came a soft voice from behind her.

Weiss glanced behind her, spotting a head of bright red hair. "Hello, Pyrrha," she murmured. "Yes, everything is fine. I just finished speaking with your employer is all."

Pyrrha, clad in armor, stepped up beside Weiss noiselessly, fixing her concerned emerald gaze on the ivory-haired heiress. "This seems like it was worse than usual."

Weiss almost wanted to laugh, but the sick feeling in her stomach prevented that. "You know the partner we are supposed to be meeting with?" Pyrrha nodded. "He has a son that I am to 'establish relations with.'"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pyrrha wince; the girl knew enough about Tyrann's personality to know exactly what kind of "relations" he wanted Weiss to establish.

The heiress sighed, backing away from the ship's railing to face Pyrrha. "You know what kind of man your employer is. Why do you continue to work for him? Surely there must be less objectionable people to guard out there."

Pyrrha's reply was instantaneous. "I am _your_ guard, not his. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive at first, but once I met you, my actual charge, my doubts went away."

Weiss smiled a bit, flattered. Before she could reply, Pyrrha spoke once more, one of her trademark sweet smiles on her face.

"Besides, I rather like you, and I'd rather not force you to deal with my employer on your own."

Weiss felt her face redden, so she coughed into the sleeve of her dress to hide it. She considered herself lucky to have a guard who cared for her as much as Pyrrha did.

Prior to the redhead, several people had rotated through Weiss's guard position, each more indifferent to her plight than the last. Despite their apparent lack of interest in the family affairs, they had all died saving their charge from various assassination attempts. If nothing else, they had done their job and Weiss could not fault them for that.

Pyrrha Nikos was one of the most fearsome fighters on Remnant, though her reputation for her battle prowess was preceded by her reputation for her agreeable personality. There was not a single person who met the woman who disliked her. Even Tyrann had approved of her, surprising everyone including the redhead herself.

Pyrrha hailed from a small tribe in Mistral who specialized in fighting. The tribe was an ancient one called "Amazons" which was one of the most fearsome tribes in the world. There was no one foolhardy enough to attack the tribe, thus it had survived for hundreds of years.

Most of the members would stay in the village until they were employed by an outside party, though Pyrrha had been a rare exception. She had willingly left to seek out an employer that she approved of. She had surprised herself when she agreed to meet Tyrann Schnee's daughter, though she was glad she had taken the chance.

Weiss returned to her position along the railing, a wistful smile resting on her lips. Pyrrha joined her, staring out into the crystal blue waters.

Neither girl spoke for several minutes, instead choosing to brood over Tyrann's expectations. The reality of the situation was far too grim for even Pyrrha to try and lighten the mood.

Eventually breaking the silence, Pyrrha whispered, "No matter what happens, I am here to support you, Miss Weiss. You may rely on me."

The words that were spoken so quietly resonated like a symphony in Weiss's ears. To prevent herself from shedding the tears that threatened to spill, she put up her prickly façade and simply huffed, forcing her emotions out with the puff of air.

Pyrrha knew that despite the harsh exterior Weiss hid behind, she was a rather sensitive girl underneath it all. She had decided that she would become a pillar of support for the heiress who so desperately needed and yearned for it; she didn't want or need anything in return.

Waves continued to roll around them, filling the air with a constant relaxing sound. Pyrrha was content to simply stare out into the distance, until she spotted something along the horizon. Her eyes narrowed as she attempted to zero-in on the object.

Weiss, who had been watching a pair of seagulls dance through the sky, felt her guard tense beside her. Her ice-blue eyes searched for emerald ones that were fixed out into the distance.

"What's the matter, Pyrrha?" she asked hesitantly.

"If my eyes do not deceive me, I believe that is a pirate ship out there, and a rather large one at that," the amazon said, her voice tight.

Ice-blue eyes widened in panic. "What?! How can you be sure?" It was well known that pirates were all over the sea, and they were sure to attack any ship that appeared to hold wealth.

The heiress searched up along the main mast of her own ship, confirming that an ice-blue flag emblazoned with the Schnee family emblem billowed in the breeze. The flag was practically a target, signaling that anyone with a desire for wealth should indeed pay the ship a visit. She swallowed hard, though her throat felt incredibly dry.

Not helping to ease her fears, Pyrrha spoke. "I can make out a black flag."

Again, Weiss swallowed; it felt just as dry.

"If I can see them, surely they can see us," the redhead muttered. Unconsciously, she brought a hand back over her shoulder, confirming that her weapon, a spear, rested there. Though many preferred to utilize swords or guns, Amazons favored spears, enjoying the benefits of a staff and the sharpness of a blade.

High above them in the crow's nest, a voice shouted, "Pirate ship along the port side! Prepare for combat!"

The crew sprang into action, rushing about the ship to their combat stations and grabbing their weapons from below the deck. Despite their quick action, murmurs of apprehension could be heard; doubts about returning alive being the main topic.

Amidst the rushing about, Weiss's sense of time slowed to the pace of a snail. Despite having been attacked several times in her life, she was unprepared for an attack at sea. At least on land, she had a chance of fleeing, but at sea, her ship could be sunk by a cannonball and there would be nothing she could do to escape.

An image of her slumbering in a watery grave flashed through her consciousness, but she quickly shook her head, desperate to be rid of such a morbid thought.

She knew she should move, that she should retreat to the relative safety of her quarters below deck, but her feet refused to move. She was rooted to the deck by persistent tendrils of fear.

Pyrrha quickly grabbed the heiress by the shoulders and shook once firmly.

Recognition slowly dawned on the scarred face before the Amazon, and Pyrrha took that moment to address her terrified charge.

"Weiss, I know you are scared, but I need you to listen to me and do as I say. Can you do that?"

Weiss gulped and nodded stiffly.

"We are going to go below deck and find you a place to hide."

"But… what about my quarters?" Weiss croaked out.

Pyrrha shook her head. "They will surely check them. It's an obvious place to go after all. If we hide you somewhere else, there is a chance that they won't find you."

"They will be within cannon range in two minutes," came a call from above.

Wasting no more time, Pyrrha took Weiss's hand and led her below deck.

As the ship's size would imply, the area below deck was massive. The galley off to the side was larger than most kitchens in an average house. The crew's quarters, simply a room filled with hammocks, was able to hold fifty men easily.

Such massive open areas would not be ideal for a hiding place, so Pyrrha opted for the only spot that wasn't easily seen at first glance; the gap under the stairs.

Quickly but gently, she guided the trembling heiress to the space. To provide further cover, the redhead moved several open, empty wooden crates on either side of the gap.

When she felt the heiress was hidden well enough that she would not be found instantly, she placed a hand on her charge's shoulder. "I'm going to go above deck and defend in the case that they board. Do not move from this spot."

When she turned to leave, Weiss grabbed her hand, staring at her guard with imploring eyes.

After a heartbeat, the heiress whispered, "What if they don't board? What if they sink us with a cannonball?"

Pyrrha clasped her free hand around the trembling hand of the heiress. She squeezed gently. "Then I will make sure to come get you and find a bit of driftwood for us to float on."

Weiss's lower lip trembled. "What if they board and there are too many? What if you get hurt or…" She couldn't finish the thought.

Kind emerald eyes found anxious ice-blue. "That won't happen. I won't die and I won't let them hurt you."

The explosion of a cannon resounded throughout the ship, accompanied by a chorus of shouts above deck.

Sensing her time was short, Pyrrha squeezed Weiss's hands once more. "Everything will be alright. I promise."

Before the heiress could reply, the redhead rose and made her way above deck.

Tyrann emerged from his quarters, anger clearly written across his sharp features. A crew member had burst into his study raving madly about pirates approaching. Sensing that the fools he employed would be unable to handle themselves, he had retrieved his prized cutlass from his sleeping quarters and emerged, ready to command his likely-useless crew.

The first mate, a small baby-faced boy, rushed toward Tyrann and saluted. "We are ready to fire again at your command, sir."

Tyrann's snow-white brows furrowed. "'Again?' Who authorized the first shot?"

The boy gulped. "The, uh, one who mans the cannon, sir. They got skittish and fired before the pirates did."

A hand flashed across the boy's vision before her fell to the deck. His right cheek stung fiercely.

"When this battle is over," Tyrann said darkly, "the boy who fired will be placed in the holding cell where he will await his punishment upon arrival."

The first mate nodded, gingerly cradling his cheek. "Understood, sir."

The Schnee patriarch stepped past the trembling boy. "Prepare to fire! They are not to board the ship," he bellowed.

The pirate ship had been steadily approaching, though it had yet to fire a single shot.

Most pirates would fire the first shot, intent to incapacitate the target ship right away, or if they were not the first to fire, they would at least retaliate. Thus, the pacifistic approach of the ship surprised Tyrann.

"They are attempting to set up for boarding! Sink them before they get the chance," he roared.

With a signal that they were ready to begin their assault, Tyrann shouted, "Fire!"

The sound of the cannon was deafening, though the Schnee patriarch was unfazed. His eyes were trained on the ship steadily approaching, waiting to see a hole appear in the bow.

To his dismay, every shot missed its target, each ball creating a small geyser as they harmlessly splashed into the water.

He ground his teeth. "The instant we are ready to fire, do so! Fire at will!" Why were such useless people working for him? When they returned, every single one would be fired at the absolute least.

More shots were heard, though like the ones before them, they too missed. The ship was undeterred in its course, not even attempting to make itself a difficult target. Why was it that his crew was unable to hit the massive thing?

"Thirty seconds until they reach us! They're prepared to board," came a shout from the crow's nest.

Sensing that there would be nothing to gain from firing from this close, Tyrann bellowed out his orders. "Cease fire! Prepare for combat! They are not to take a single lien from this ship!"

The crew drew their weapons and formed a wall along the port side. The tension in the air was palpable, the air thick with crew bidding a silent farewell to family left behind.

In the middle of the line stood Pyrrha Nikos, her spear at the ready. She took a deep breath, willing herself to clear her head; clouded thoughts led to clumsy combat. In her mind, an image of a trembling Weiss flashed, and she felt her resolve strengthen; she would do whatever it took to keep the tiny heiress safe.

A jostling impact shook her from her thoughts; the pirates had finally arrived. Large wooden planks bridged the gap between the two ships, and in an instant, chaos ensued.

All pretexts of planning were forgotten as swords clashed. _The_ _Kalt_ had an advantage when it came to numbers, but the pirate ship had clearly gone for quality over quantity; the crew of the Schnee ship was being overwhelmed by fighters who seemed to exude skill.

Pyrrha took a final deep breath before she charged, slicing through two enemy crew members as she went. She twirled her spear, feeling the weapon as an extension of herself, and it showed in the precision of her strikes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a head of short black hair, though curiously, the ends appeared to be as red her own. The small girl the hair belonged to wielded an incredibly large scythe as if it weighed nothing. She twirled and flipped, cutting down man after man without breaking a sweat.

Near the small scythe-wielder was a tall girl with long black hair and a pair of black cat ears; a Faunus. Her fighting style was peculiar, wielding both a curved blade and its sheath. She was rather agile, dodging several potentially-lethal strikes before counterattacking.

Pyrrha swallowed; clearly the enemy would be difficult to defeat. Alone, she was unsure if she would be able to defeat them all.

Two pirates approached her, their cutlasses raised high above their heads. In the blink of an eye, Pyrrha pivoted around one of the men, shoving the blunt end of her spear into his backside. Before the other could react, she quickly stabbed him between the shoulder blades. With a cry, he fell to the ground next to his comrade, who was struggling to rise. The Amazon didn't waste a moment before she delivered a sound blow to the back of the struggling pirate's skull with the shaft of her beloved weapon.

She released a breath, taking advantage of the brief respite to gather her bearings. She looked around the deck, trying to assess the number of _The Kalt_ crew members left. The redhead bit her lip; there were less than half of the members left. The rest had been easily dispatched by the talented crew of the pirate ship.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a girl wielding a rather large hammer. The girl's eyes were wild, and the manic grin resting on her face as she dispatched opponent after opponent made her look absolutely insane. With a tremendous swing, she knocked the crew standing in her way to the deck, likely shattering their ribs as she did so. Spotting Pyrrha, the girl grinned even wider before charging directly at the Amazon.

Pyrrha readied a defensive stance and prayed that her spear would hold up against a full-force swing from the hammer.

From the upper deck, Pyrrha heard the distinct roar of Tyrann Schnee. Sparing a quick glance, she spotted a head of wild blonde hair. Atop the mane that reached down to the figure's waist was a large black hat; the person must be the captain.

The figure was tall and heavily muscled, towering over Tyrann. Initially, Pyrrha could spot no weapons until she looked closer; the figure had brass knuckles on both hands. It was a risky setup, but considering the confident swagger of the captain, they were likely an incredibly skilled fighter.

The two captains took up ready stances, sizing the other up. Tyrann was surprised to find that a woman of incredible size was the captain. She grinned cheekily, her lilac eyes twinkling with amusement.

The gesture only served to anger Tyrann further. He roared and charged forward, bringing his golden-handled sword down.

The woman raised a hand to block the strike, the brass knuckles taking the force of the attack easily. She deflected Tyrann's blade and quickly moved in, delivering a powerful hit to his solar plexus.

He gasped for air, clutching at his gut desperately. He'd never been struck before, and it showed in his shocked expression.

The woman crouched down, knocking his sword away.

"What a tacky weapon," she said with a snort. "It'll probably sell for a pretty lien though."

She grasped the front of his shirt, pulling him toward her until his nose was an inch from hers. "Order your crew to stand down or I will kill you where you stand," she said quietly, the intensity of her tone conveying her message far better than yelling. The grin that rested on her face never left, though at this point it looked far less amused and far more menacing.

Tyrann growled, but he knew the blonde would likely make good on her promise. It would be better for him to stand down and live, rather than risk his life on calling a potential bluff.

"Very well," he muttered. The blonde pulled him up and brought him to the railing that separated his quarters from the rest of the ship.

"Stand down," he bellowed, effectively stopping both sides.

The blonde captain let out a whistle. "You're pretty intimidating, huh? I guess that's why you're the head of the Schnee Trading Company." She rose, chuckling as she did so. "You're a terrible fighter though."

Pyrrha felt her jaw drop. Not only had Tyrann been defeated within five minutes of the beginning of the battle, but her chance of keeping Weiss safe was practically gone with his surrender. It made her wonder how such a weak man could hold so much power.

Reluctantly, she laid down her weapon and knelt down. The surviving crewmembers followed suit, eager to grab on to whatever chance they had of staying alive.

The blonde captain cleared her throat. "Blake, Ren, and Nora: tie up the crew and keep watch. Sun, Neptune, and I will search the ship. Ruby, keep an eye out for backup. Everyone else has to help carry the loot out. Get going!"

The pirate crew began to move, spreading out as instructed. Pyrrha felt her throat go dry when she watched the captain and two young men go below deck.

The dark haired Faunus approached her, holding a rope. The Amazon offered no resistance; she didn't want to cause a stir and jeopardize Weiss or the crew's safety.

The golden eyes of the Faunus girl fixed on her, curiosity present behind feigned indifference. Her eyes were transfixed on the circlet covering Pyrrha's forehead; a well-known symbol of the Amazon tribe.

Though the girl looked like she had several questions, she chose to remain silent and move on to the other crew members.

It was agonizing to watch crate after crate brought up from below deck, each one acting as a countdown until Weiss was found.

Sure enough, there came a panicked screech and a moment later, the blonde captain carried up a terrified Weiss bridal style. To the smaller girl's credit, she kept the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes at bay, choosing to take her frustrations out by thrashing within the iron grip of her captor.

"Weiss!" Pyrrha shouted, unable to stop herself.

The heiress froze; she slowly turned her head to spot her guard kneeling on the deck, looking like she wanted nothing more than to rescue the ivory-haired girl. "Pyrrha…" she sniffled, "what's going to happen to us?"

"Everything will be alright, Weiss. Do as they say and everything will be fine," she said as tenderly as she could manage.

The blonde captain raised a brow. "This is the youngest of the Schnee family, huh? What's she doing out here, Tyrann? I thought you wanted the eldest to take over the empire."

Tyrann grunted, glaring harshly at his daughter. "She was to observe how a deal works and to establish close relations with the son of our business partner."

The captain winced. "You were gonna sell her off? That's cold, even for you." She snickered then, obviously finding her "cold" statement amusing.

She sobered up quickly afterward. "Tell you what, Papa Schnee: we'll take your daughter off of your hands. Once you prepare a suitable amount of money, we'd be happy to give her back. This is basically what you were planning to do with her anyway, right? It's just that _we're_ the ones selling her off now. That's not a problem, right?"

The blonde captain could feel Weiss tense within her grip. "You can make the payment out to Captain Yang Xiao-Long of the ship, _The Burning Heart_. We look forward to your favorable reply," she said, exaggeratedly bowing but still keeping Weiss firmly in her grip.

Before she could cross the plank connecting the ships, Weiss called out, "Pyrrha! Please do something!"

Before the Amazon could move, the blonde captain spoke. "That your girlfriend? Or your guard?" She whistled. "And an Amazonian at that."

She gestured to Blake. "Take the Amazon with us. The little heiress clearly needs her, and we're not monsters."

Sparing no more words, she crossed the plank, gingerly carrying the ivory-haired girl into the holding cell below deck. Blake had followed after her, depositing Pyrrha within the same cell.

"Be good now," Yang called with a laugh before returning to the deck.

Ren and Nora pulled up the planks and confirmed that everyone was on board.

"Good luck, Papa Schnee! Hopefully a storm doesn't sink you guys before you make it back," Yang shouted, a smug grin resting on her face.

"Anchors aweigh! Let's head out," she shouted, making her way below deck once more; she was going to have a word with her new captives.

With that command, _The Burning Heart_ 's sails unfurled, and the ship pulled away.

The day was just beginning.

 **Whew! Chapter one of "Adventure on the High Schnees" is officially done! I got to work a pun into the title and it makes me so happy! I make no apologies! Weiss can't catch a break in any of my stories, can she? She's my second favorite character, so why do I torture her so? Eh, whatever. "The** _ **Kalt"**_ **translates from German to "the cold." Tyrann's name also has a fun meaning, but I'll let you guys guess (or figure it out). I hope you all enjoyed it! Until next time~!**


	2. It's All Fun and Games Until

**Hello hello! It's chapter two of High Schnees! I wrote most of this during my ecology class (whoops). For some reason, I was seriously struggling to type properly, so there might be more mistakes than usual. Please feel free to point them out! Also, a huge thank-you to everyone who is following, favoriting, and reviewing! I love seeing the response to my work and it makes me want to write even more! As always, I'll blather more at the bottom, so for now, on with the chapter!**

From below the deck of _The Burning Heart_ , Weiss and Pyrrha could feel the ship lurch and begin its journey, signaled by the creaking of the ship and shouts from the crew.

Weiss had curled into herself, resting her chin on her knees. She sniffled, unwilling to let herself cry. She knew that she had to be strong, but being a prisoner of a pirate crew made her fear for her and Pyrrha's life.

Worse yet, she wasn't sure her father would pay the ransom, especially since he would consider her capture to be a show of weakness that could damage the family's reputation for unyielding strength.

 _Death. Death. Death. That is what awaits us if he doesn't pay._ Her mind was relentlessly repeating the same terrible things over and over. She wanted to hope; wanted to be optimistic, but she was a realistic person. She had heard the stories, knew the rumors. If her father didn't pay the ransom, there was no chance that they would make it out alive.

Next to her, Pyrrha felt her mind racing, trying desperately to think of a way for them to escape alive. She didn't have her spear; it had been taken by the Faunus girl before she had tied Pyrrha up. There was no way to escape without it, but she had no idea where to find it.

And then there was the problem of actually escaping. Even if she managed to break out of the cell and find her spear, she would have to then get her and Weiss off the ship, since there was no way she would be able to take it over; it would basically equate to suicide. But even if they managed to actually escape off the boat, they would either be recaptured immediately or drown before they could reach land.

Still, she had to at least attempt to escape; it would be better to attempt to escape and possibly succeed than wait for imminent death in the cell.

She rose from her spot next to Weiss and took hold of the bars on their cell. It was surely locked, but there was no harm in confirming. She gave a firm shake, but as she expected, it held strong. With an exhale, the Amazon sat back down before wrapping an arm around Weiss's trembling shoulders.

The smaller girl jolted for an instant before her head slowly rose, fixing her unsure ice-blue eyes on emerald. "What will happen to us if my father won't pay? He probably won't want to be seen bending to the demands of pirates."

Pyrrha winced at Weiss's words of "won't pay." The Schnee family was one of the richest in the world, so it would never be a matter of ability to pay, but rather a willingness to pay.

She bit her lip; there was a lot of things that could happen to them, most of which involved their deaths. Still, the fact that the captain had allowed Pyrrha to stay with Weiss was a rather bizarre anomaly. Pirates were generally cruel, but the captain seemed to be at least a little bit merciful.

" _We're not monsters."_

"I... I'm not sure. Pirates have been known to be very cruel, but I'm not sure if they will be as terrible as many stories have told. After all, they did allow me to stay with you on their ship."

Weiss, buried her face into her knees, muffling her voice. "But what if they only did that so they could get more money for ransom? What if they just want to torture someone else as well?"

Pyrrha hesitated. Weiss had a point, as unfortunate as it was. Still... she couldn't be sure what the captain was thinking. One minute, the blonde captain was taking over the ship, and the next she was letting Pyrrha stay with her ward. It was just one brief action of bizarre kindness, but Pyrrha would latch onto that with everything she had. She would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

"Well, we won't know what they want until someone comes to speak with us. You might be right, but I want to hold onto the hope that they might be reasonable to an extent."

"But they're _pirates_!" The tears that had stubbornly clung to the corners of Weiss's eyes finally fell as she snapped her head up. Furiously, she scrubbed at them; she hated herself for crying when Pyrrha was remaining strong for both of them. "What point is there in hoping for something that will never happen?" she whimpered, her voice softer after her outburst.

Pyrrha pulled the trembling heiress more firmly into her embrace, settling the girl's head in the crook of her neck. "I know. I know you're scared -I am too- but we have to hope. If we give into despair now, then we will have no chance. If we remain hopeful, then there will always be some chance, no matter how small, and it will be up to us whether we want to take that chance or not."

Weiss sniffled, wiping her eyes dry before looking up into the kind emerald eyes of her guardian. "I... I trust you, Pyrrha. If you believe that there is a chance that we will come out of this alive, then I will believe in that chance as well."

The redhead gave her ivory-haired ward a warm smile. Weiss had always kept Pyrrha at a distance, likely to stop herself from getting hurt, and now she was finally beginning to let her guardian in. It was unfortunate that the trust had to be born from such unpleasant circumstances, but she would not be picky.

As the two sat in silence, Weiss mentally scolded herself. Pyrrha was just as frightened as her, yet she couldn't cry. She had to be strong for Weiss, who was doing nothing but whimper in fear.

She hated it. She hated the weakness that forced Pyrrha to be strong, even when she shouldn't have to be.

And so she would stop. She would force herself to be strong and to be someone that Pyrrha could be proud to stand alongside. When someone inevitably came down to speak with them, she would give them a piece of her mind. She would stand firm and show them just how strong a Schnee could be.

As if to challenge her mental declaration, heavy footsteps could be heard clunking down the wooden stairs that led below deck.

Weiss tensed; true, she had just decided to be strong and give their captors a piece of her mind, but did it really have to be so soon? She hadn't had time to mentally prepare herself yet.

"Don't worry, Weiss. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe," Pyrrha whispered quickly, noticing Weiss's rigid posture.

While part of Weiss was reassured by Pyrrha's words, the part of her she wanted to cultivate was dissatisfied. It was now or never, she supposed. She set her jaw and rose, her shoulders back and her head held high. "Thank you, Pyrrha, but I refuse to be intimidated further." She really hoped that Pyrrha couldn't hear the tremble in her voice.

Pyrrha could only do so much, so she was determined to rely on her own inner strength; getting a Schnee to bend their will was a nigh-impossible task, and she would call upon that powerful lineage.

Finally, Captain Xiao-Long appeared in the doorway, her golden hair shining in the candlelight. She sauntered into the room, her boots thudding heavily against the wood flooring, before she pulled up a stool from the corner of the room, sitting with her legs spread and her hands on her knees.

"How's the cell? Comfy?" she asked, a smirk on her face. She seemed to be taking a sadistic pleasure in seeing a Schnee reduced to such a sad state.

Weiss huffed. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

The captain laughed. "It's funny because you're a Schnee. I'm surprised you're not whining about not having a bed with silk sheets in there."

"It's a cell, not a bedroom. Did you truly expect me to whine about conditions as a _prisoner_?" Weiss snarked. She was lucky that she hated the captain's type -everything was just one big joke to them- because she could channel that hatred into strength. So far, it seemed that the captain hadn't picked up on her fear, and she was determined to keep it that way. The last thing they needed was a weakness that could be exploited.

"To be honest, yeah. Your family's got a reputation for extravagance, you know. Don't tell me you'd rather live in a cozy little cottage out in the woods somewhere?" Captain Xiao-Long looked at her capture with a mix of disbelief and amusement.

Weiss crossed her arms with a huff. "And what if I did? I recognize that my family has an opulent lifestyle, but the opulence is wasteful. Besides, anywhere would be better than living with my father."

The captain's eyebrows rose to her hairline. "Really? You mean it's not all sunshine and rainbows at the Schnee manor?" There was still a teasing lilt to her tone.

"Of course not," Weiss scoffed. "You know what my father is like. I'm sure you can at least _guess_ what he's like from the fact that he tried to sell me off to the highest bidder like some glorified _livestock_."

Her own words stung. Tyrann Schnee was a business man before he was her father, and though she knew that, the lonely and frightened child within her desperately wanted her father to come and save her.

For a moment, Captain Xiao-Long said nothing, considering Weiss's rather blunt words.

Pyrrha held her breath. She had been silent during the whole exchange, watching the captain's reactions to Weiss's rather snippy replies, making sure that Weiss had not accidentally said something that would get them both killed. She was proud though; Weiss was displaying incredible bravery, especially in contrast to her trembling fear from earlier.

Fortunately for both of them, it seemed that the captain was more amused than anything. Even when she wasn't smiling, there was always mirth in her lilac orbs. Perhaps they had a chance at staying alive after all.

After a long pause, the captain nodded, fixing her lilac eyes on Weiss's ice-blue. "You've got a point there, although we're not much better. We're kinda doing the same thing after all."

"You're pirates, not my family. It's basically in your job description to sell people off," Weiss deadpanned.

The captain burst into laughter, doubling over and clutching her sides. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she desperately tried to breathe through her laughter.

Pyrrha and Weiss looked on, bewildered. Had what Weiss said truly been that funny?

After a few moments, the blonde woman's bout of laughter subsided. She wiped her eyes before addressing her two captures once more.

"You've got a lot of spunk, Princess. I can see why the Amazon here likes you so much." She set her gaze on Pyrrha for the first time since entering the room.

"Speaking of that, what's your story? I thought Amazons were pretty picky about their employers."

Pyrrha stepped forward, raising her chin like Weiss had, though with far less hostility. "Mr. Schnee informed me that he wanted me to guard his youngest daughter." She glanced at Weiss sheepishly before continuing. "I will admit that I had my doubts, but I agreed to meet her at the very least."

"And?" Captain Xiao-Long was on the edge of her stool, leaning forward.

"The first thing she said to me was, 'Get out while you still can. Don't get stuck with my father as your employer.'" She chuckled as the captain laughed heartily.

"It intrigued me, so I agreed to stay, provided that Miss Weiss would be the only one to give me orders. He agreed and I've been guarding her ever since."

"I still think you're a fool for not heeding my warning," Weiss huffed, a wry smile on her face.

Captain Xiao-Long burst into laughter for the third time since she had arrived. She seemed to be an easily-amused person. "Looks like we picked up some interesting prisoners. Tell you what; if you behave for a few days, I'll let you guys out. You'll be free to do whatever you want on the ship."

Pyrrha and Weiss shared a hopeful glance before nodding. "Thank you, Captain Xiao-Long."

"Gotta warn you; some of the crew doesn't like you. A couple are interested in the two of you, but the rest are pretty unhappy with the Schnee family, so just be careful of that, yeah? I'll keep those types away from you as best as I can."

Of course. Weiss had nearly forgotten about the rest of the crew. She knew that her family would not curry any favors with anyone besides the wealthy, but her lineage had never actively put her at a disadvantage. She would have to be careful.

The captain rose, dusting off her long jacket before heading for the door. "And just 'Yang' is fine." She stopped in the frame, gripping one of the sides and turning her head back to the two hostages. "Blake'll be here in a bit to bring you some food. She's kinda quiet, but she's a good girl. Play nice!" With a nonchalant wave, Yang left the room.

As soon as the footsteps receded, Weiss and Pyrrha released a breath they hadn't realized they had been holding, though Weiss's shuddered more than Pyrrha's had. Perhaps their fate wasn't as grim as it had originally appeared.

Pyrrha laid a hand on Weiss's shoulder. "You were very brave. I'm proud of you."

The captured heiress could feel her ears and cheeks heat up, but she brushed aside the compliment with a smug huff. "I couldn't let the brute intimidate me. It would be unbecoming." Truthfully, Pyrrha's praise meant a lot. She was taking her first steps to becoming stronger.

Pyrrha giggled; Weiss's bravado could be charming, especially when her ego was padded a bit.

Their exchange was cut short by the faintest sound of footsteps heading their way. In fact, the steps were so quiet, they were almost drowned out by the creaking of the ship.

With a shared glance, the two prisoners set their shoulders once more and waited for the visitor to arrive.

Upon the sight of cat ears atop inky hair, Pyrrha perked up.

"Oh! Hello again," the Amazon said with a friendly wave.

The girl stopped for a second, her golden eyes widening in surprise before she muttered a quick greeting.

In her hands was a tray of food –mostly fish—laid out on various plates. She crouched down, setting the tray on the floor before handing the plates one by one through the cell bars.

"You must be Blake! Is that right?" Ever-friendly Pyrrha was not one to be deterred. Among the usually-stoic Amazon, Pyrrha was something of an anomaly.

The black-haired girl, Blake, nodded slightly. Her eyes, since her momentary surprise upon being greeted, had been flitting between Weiss and Pyrrha incessantly.

The two prisoners picked up on this, but Pyrrha ultimately spoke for the two of them. "Is there something you'd like to ask us, Blake?"

For a moment, she said nothing, as if she was debating about asking or not, but her curiosity seemingly won out as she opened her mouth.

"What is an Amazon doing working for a Schnee? I thought they were careful about their employers." Her voice was quiet, so quiet that Pyrrha had to strain to hear, but there was a sharp, almost accusatory tone to it.

"Your captain asked us the same thing," Weiss said with a sigh. It wasn't exasperated, but rather filled with dread; she doubted the Faunus members of the crew would ever fully accept an honorable Amazon as an employee of the ill-reputed Schnee family.

Pyrrha seemed to sense Weiss's thoughts and spoke for her. "Her father is certainly… not the most trustworthy person—"

"That's putting it lightly…" Blake muttered.

The Amazon coughed before clearing her throat. "Yes, it is. However, Miss Weiss is not her father. She tried to warn me away, but I chose to stay in order to keep the only truly honorable and kind Schnee safe. I wanted to guard the potential better future that Miss Weiss could bring."

Weiss fixed her ice-blue eyes firmly on Blake's gold. "I am not, and have no desire to be, my father. He wasn't the first of our legacy, and I refuse to let him be the last."

Blake's gaze did not stray from Weiss's, searching for any signs of deceit.

Weiss took a small step back, her eyes softening. "I don't hate Faunus like he does," she whispered.

Golden eyes widened for a brief second before returning to their unreadable original state. Blake's only indication that she was thinking and not simply asleep with her eyes open, was the occasional twitch of the cat ears atop her head.

After a tense moment, she met Weiss's eyes and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. "I hope you don't disappoint me."

Weiss nodded back firmly. "I won't."

Seemingly satisfied for the time being, Blake nodded to Pyrrha before picking up the now-empty tray and exiting the room just as quietly as she had entered.

With Blake's departure, the two prisoners released another breath before they sat down to eat.

"That was really nerve-wracking," Pyrrha laughed nervously before she bit into a piece of fish.

Weiss sighed before taking a bite of her own fish. "At least she's willing to give me a chance." And she would not waste that chance. The kidnapping would spark her growth into a stronger, better person. It was simply amusing that her growth would come from a situation that most people would regress in.

The two ate the rest of their meal in silence, each pondering about what was to come.

* * *

The next few days passed by fairly quickly. Some of the crew had taken an interest in the prisoners and made sure to pay them a visit at least once.

Yang visited multiple times, happily chatting with both of her captives about whatever came to mind. There was a rather relaxed atmosphere between the three of them, despite the fact that two of them were being held captive. Weiss was still hesitant, but she wouldn't let the captain know that.

Unfortunately, Yang's visits never really lasted long; she did have a lot of things to attend to as captain after all.

On the second day, Yang's younger sister, Ruby, poked her head inside the doorframe, her wide silver eyes curious and hesitant.

The two captives had been playing a game of cards –provided by Yang—when Weiss had noticed Ruby hovering awkwardly in the frame. Every visitor put Weiss on edge; she could never know if they were one of the people who didn't like her family. However, the shy girl before them seemed harmless enough. With a curious look, she hesitantly addressed the younger girl.

"Hello. Who might you be?"

With a squeak, Ruby shuffled forward, wringing her hands. "My name's Ruby. I'm Yang's younger sister."

"It's very nice to meet you, Ruby! I'm Pyrrha!" The Amazon gestured toward her ward. "And this is Miss Weiss."

Ruby dipped her head. "It's nice to meet you both too. Um… Miss Weiss?"

"Just 'Weiss' is fine," the heiress said, a hint of a smile on her face. Perhaps her initial guess about the awkward girl had been correct.

"Do you… have any hobbies, Weiss?" Her question was so rushed, Weiss almost missed what she had asked.

Weiss shared a confused glance with Pyrrha before addressing Ruby, who looked more and more uncomfortable with each passing second.

"Well, when I have a spare moment, I like to read or play chess. If I'm alone, I'll practice singing." She paused. "Why do you ask?"

Ruby squirmed a bit before hesitantly peeking at Weiss. "Um… there were some crew members who were saying that you were really mean."

When Weiss winced, Ruby hurried on. "Ah! But I thought that it was wrong to judge someone before you really get to know them –that's what Yang tells me—and so I thought I should try to get to know you…" She trailed off at the end, bumping the tips of her pointer fingers together.

Weiss said nothing, simply processing what Ruby had practically blurted out. After a moment, a genuine smile broke out across her face. "Thank you, Ruby. That means a lot to me."

Ruby's face flushed and she waved her hands frantically. "It's no big deal! I just thought it was the right thing to do!"

A look of surprise crossed her face before she hurriedly addressed Pyrrha. "Oh! I wanna get to know you too, Pyrrha! I just thought I should talk to Weiss first because people were saying mean things about her, not you!"

"Ah! But not everyone is saying that! Yang and Blake haven't said anything mean!" The look of horror on her face as she tried to reassure Weiss was enough to make the heiress burst out laughing, though she tried to stifle her laughter behind her hand.

Ruby spent several more hours in the holding room, trying to get past her social anxiety so she could get to know the two captured girls better. She was by no means a conversationalist, but she more than made up for it with her kind personality and desire to bridge the gap. It warmed Weiss's heart and reassured her. It seemed they had another ally on-board.

Blake's visits on the other hand, were far shorter than Ruby's. The cat Faunus was extremely cautious, never revealing much about herself.

Weiss could understand her hesitance –she was talking to a Schnee, who were known to be enemies of the Faunus—and so she did her best to press forward, revealing as much as she could about herself whenever Blake asked.

It seemed to work, at least a little, because as the days went on, the conversations increased in length, and there was more emotion between them.

Pyrrha had helped to bridge the gap between the two, since Blake was far more trusting of an Amazon. In fact, Pyrrha helped to better Weiss's relations with most of the crew who visited.

The crimson-haired warrior had many people visit her as well, including a quiet man with a streak of pink in his hair, and the hyperactive ginger she had fought before. Each took a liking to her, and for the ginger, her fighting ability.

It was bizarre, frankly, that some of their kidnappers wanted to befriend them. For the life of them, they couldn't understand the captain or crew's thinking in doing so, but they were loathe to complain. After all, it was far better that they treated them favorably than tortured or abused them.

Still, as they conversed with the crew, they kept their guard up somewhat. Trust was a two-way street, but that didn't mean they needed to reveal everything about themselves. As the distance between the crew and the prisoners lessened, so too did the number of secrets the captives concealed.

Despite this, both Pyrrha and Weiss knew that at the end of the day, they were still being held for ransom. If it came down to it, the captive girls had no doubt that their little friendship with the crew would shatter like glass. They were _prisoners;_ _hostages,_ and no amount of friendship was going to change that.

* * *

After about a week, Yang came into the holding cell, twirling a ring of keys around her pointer finger and whistling a random tune. With a grin, she held up the keys. "Today's the day! You got along with the crew, so you guys get to enjoy some freedom!"

Weiss and Pyrrha shared a wide smile before thanking Yang.

With a click, the door unlocked and Yang pulled it open, sweeping an arm toward the exit with an exaggerated bow. "Right this way, ladies."

The heiress rolled her eyes before exiting the cell with Pyrrha close behind.

Yang shut the cell door before leading the way up to the deck.

The sun was high in the sky, casting warm rays of light down on the deck. Weiss and Pyrrha stretched, reveling in the warmth they hadn't felt in days. It felt wonderful to finally be out of the cell and feel the gentle breeze rolling off of the ocean's gentle waves.

The girls took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar salty scent of the water around them. Weiss looked to the sky above them, enjoying the sight of the deep blue color and the fluffy white clouds that floated lazily across the expanse.

From the crow's nest, Ruby peered down. With a smile and a friendly wave, she greeted the now-freed girls.

Several others on-deck were not quite as happy to see them. They peered at them; some curious and others suspicious.

It unnerved the two girls. Although Weiss was used to being the center of attention thanks to her family, her situation was different this time; instead of being looked at with a mixture of fear and reverence, she was being watched with suspicion and resentment. The feeling made her shiver.

Oblivious to her hostages' plight, the captain stopped in the middle of the deck. With a sweeping gesture, Yang twirled around to face Weiss and Pyrrha. "Welcome to the deck of _The Burning Heart_! It's pretty nice, if I do say so myself!"

Before she could give a tour, her lilac eyes spotted something off of the bow of the ship.

In the distance, dark clouds could be seen forming. Seagulls called back and forth, seemingly flying in the opposite direction of the ominous clouds.

The blonde captain clicked her tongue. "That doesn't look good." She shouted up to the crow's nest. "Ruby! What's going on over there?"

The smaller girl poked her head over the lip of the nest. "Storm clouds, Yang. They look pretty nasty too. We should probably prepare for the worst."

Yang quickly ran up the bow of the ship before bellowing at her crew. "Listen up, guys! We're gonna be heading into a storm, so get everything fastened down! I don't wanna see anyone or anything goin' overboard! You hear me?"

With an affirmative shout from the crew and a panicked whine from Neptune, the crew of _The Burning Heart_ set to work, taking some things below deck while others tied things down.

Sun quickly climbed up the rigging to furl the sails so they wouldn't tear in the high winds. When it came to climbing, Sun was second-to-none.

All at once, the ship lurched to a stop, throwing several members of the crew sprawling across the deck.

"What was that?" Sun shouted, dangling from some of the rigging.

"That's what I wanna know!" Yang shouted back, checking over the bow for something they could have hit. "I don't see anything! Did we run aground?"

Pyrrha tensed, and Weiss instantly felt the change in her guardian. "Pyrrha? Is something wrong?"

The Amazon's eyes were flitting back and forth wildly, as if they were searching for something. "There's something… off about this. Something doesn't feel right…"

Before Weiss could ask what she meant, the ship jolted once more, even more violently than before.

Pyrrha caught Weiss before the heiress could faceplant onto the deck, keeping her close.

"What's going on?!" Ruby shouted from her spot in the crow's nest, her knuckles white as she held on for dear life.

"Sun! Get Ruby down from there! I don't want anyone up on the rigging," Yang bellowed, still trying to figure out what was going on.

The monkey Faunus did as instructed, scooping Ruby up and climbing down.

The storm was getting closer and the crew was in disarray. At this rate, somebody could go overboard if the waves got too large.

Before she could shout her next orders, the ship jolted; the wood creaked loudly in protest.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yang spotted something massive rising from the water. Some sort of appendage was slowly uncurling, rising higher and higher beside the ship.

"What on Remnant is _THAT?!_ "

 **And there's chapter 2! I know I'm kinda evil for ending it there, but I couldn't resist. The idea sorta just came to me as I was finishing up the chapter, so I hope ya'll look forward to what is to come! On a different note: when Pyrrha is talking to Weiss when they are alone, she will call her "Weiss," but when there are others around or she is referring to Weiss, she will call her "Miss Weiss." The only exception is in high-stress situations, like when the pirates were approaching in chapter 1. There was some boat terminology in here, so I made some notes for them below. And if anyone with boating knowledge notices an error, please feel free to point it out! I am not a sailor in any way, shape, or form. All I did was google this stuff or parrot what my uncle has said. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed! Until next time~!**

 **Notes:**

 **Crow's Nest: Observation point that's up high on the main mast (the big pole that has the sail)**

 **Bow: The front of a ship.**

 **Rigging: The thingy through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.**

 **Furling a sail: Basically putting away the sail.**


	3. Under the Waves

**Hello hello! We've finally hit chapter 3 of High Schnees! I've made several edits to chapter 2, so if you read it right when it was published, there have been quite a few additions and changes, so I recommend reading it again if you can. It's more fulfilling now than it was before. I got really busy last month what with midterms and such, so I ended up pushing this back a month. Hopefully y'all aren't too upset with me for that. The chapter title is another song title, though the tone of the song is completely different from the tone of the chapter. As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who is following, favoriting, and reviewing! Your support really helps me to keep writing! Last chapter was a bit of a cliffhanger, so let's get going!**

* * *

"What on Remnant is _THAT_?!"

Along the starboard side of the ship, a humongous, gray appendage rose out of the water, uncurling itself until it reached above the main mast.

The crew was frozen in shock, gaping at the appearance of whatever the thing was. Yang recovered first, whirling around and attempting to snap her crew out of their entirely justifiable stupor.

"This is no time for gawking! We gotta get rid of that thing!"

"What are we supposed to do?! Whatever stopped us has gotta be huge," Neptune whined loudly, his face pale enough to rival Weiss's hair.

"We're gonna _make_ it let go! Nora and Ren! Get down to the canons and blast a hole in the damn thing," Yang shouted, pointing at the two canon operators.

Nora gave an enthusiastic salute, a maniacal grin on her face. "Aye, aye, Captain!" She turned on her heel and grabbed a hold of Ren's arm, dragging him down below deck.

"Everyone else is gonna stay up top and hack away at it with everything we've got!"

There was a roar of confirmation before the crew dispersed to grab their weapons. Yang disappeared into her quarters for a moment before returning with Pyrrha's spear and something else that Weiss couldn't discern.

The blonde captain tossed Pyrrha her weapon, which the Amazon caught easily, before she revealed what had been cradled in her arms.

Yang slid on a seemingly modified version of her brass knuckles; instead of simply slipping them on over her knuckles like she had done before, this new weapon was put on like a glove, though one what was made of steel. Protruding from the knuckles were two large blades about the size of an average dagger.

"What kind of weapons are those monstrosities?" Weiss asked, unwilling to relinquish her grip on Pyrrha. Some kind of sea monster was attacking them, making her fear of dying at sea a very possible reality. She really missed dry land.

The captain grinned. "They're something of my own creation," she said, puffing her chest out proudly. "I figured my usual knuckles weren't gonna work on whatever the hell this thing is, so I had to bring out these babies. Pretty neat, huh?"

Despite the situation, Pyrrha couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Indeed they are."

The boat lurched as another appendage rose from the water, uncurling in the same manner the first one had. If the suckers that lined the appendage were any indication, they were dealing with some kind of octopus. A really, really big octopus.

Yang finished pulling on her other gauntlet before dashing to the bow of the ship. "No mercy, guys! It's either this thing or us, and I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather it be us!"

"You're damn right," Sun shouted back, brandishing his cutlass.

"CHARGE!"

* * *

Weiss must have blanked out at one point, because the next thing she knew, she had a rope tied around her stomach that was attached to the main mast. Her arms were free, she noted. Pyrrha appeared in her vision, resting her large hands on frail shoulders.

"You need to stay here. The rope will keep you from falling overboard," the Amazon said as she checked the knot one final time.

"But what about you?! What about the rest of them?!" Weiss cried. She was absolutely terrified, but she hated feeling like a burden. At the same time, she knew that even if she was untied, there would be nothing she could do; she had no weapon and she couldn't fight.

Pyrrha smiled in a way that didn't quite reach her eyes. "We'll be fine. We won't be bested by some sea monster. Just wait for us, alright?"

Before Weiss could form some kind of protest, Pyrrha dashed off, heading for one of the tentacles.

All around Weiss, chaos had erupted, but everything sounded muffled. She could hear shouts and the sound of the canons firing, but it felt like it was all so far away. She felt like she was merely watching everything unfold rather than experiencing it, feeling strangely disconnected from her body.

 _This is all a dream. It has to be. There's no way I'm stuck on a pirate ship while the crew fights a monster._

She brought a hand to her forehead, willing a wave of nausea to go away. What had she done to deserve this? Being kidnapped by pirates wasn't enough, but now she had to be attacked by a sea monster?

There was no way out of this. She was stuck on a boat that was being crushed within the grasp of a giant octopus. Images of a destroyed ship flashed through her mind, paralyzing her.

The fear that she would die at sea was being amplified beyond her comprehension, and she could feel her heart fighting to beat out of her chest. Each breath she took was short and lacked the oxygen she needed; she was drowning, choking on air. She took a final heaving breath before she passed out.

* * *

Yang had been sailing on the seas for many years, though not all of her time had been spent as a pirate. After her mother had disappeared at sea, she, her father, and her younger sister had taken to becoming merchants, selling goods across the world and searching for their missing family member at the same time.

Somewhere during their travels, their father had been killed by members of the Altesian Royal Navy, who thought that the law didn't apply to them out on the open ocean. His death had set her on a course to become a pirate, reluctantly taking her sister along with her and exposing her to all the dangers the profession brought.

Still, with all that time and experience under her belt, it did her absolutely no good in the face of a _giant octopus._ She cursed her absolutely horrible luck.

After their ship had been stopped, the octopus creature had taken to wrapping a large limb around the ship, preventing any sort of escape. Several other limbs were raised high above the deck, wriggling and writhing about, while others were smashing parts of the ship. She heard the frame groan as the tentacle wrapped more tightly around it. If they didn't do something soon, the ship would be crushed beyond repair, and they'd be stranded at sea.

Sun and a few of the others climbed up the rigging, taking swings at the limbs whenever they got a little too close to the mast. The rest of the crew had either gone below deck to help with the cannons, or stayed on the deck to try to remove the limb that trapped them.

Yang knew that simply removing the limb wouldn't allow them to escape from the beast, but she didn't know how she was supposed to beat something far larger than their ship; they had been fighting the thing for over an hour now and it hardly looked scratched.

A particularly loud scream drew her attention to the deck. One of the crew had been grabbed by a tentacle, screaming as the tendril began to squeeze the life out of him.

"Get him out of there," Yang shouted, running to assist. The ship could wait, but a trapped member couldn't.

Neptune, Pyrrha, and a few others swarmed the tendril, taking swings and stabs at the limb that was thicker than a tree trunk. Pyrrha tried to wedge her spear in between the limb and the pirate, but the grip the creature had was too tight. She'd sooner snap her weapon than free him.

Their approach wasn't working. It was time for a change in tactics. "Guys, we have to concentrate our attacks on one spot. This thing's skin is tougher than iron. Aim for one of the suckers," Yang called.

She swung her fist, connecting with an exposed sucker and driving all of her strength and weight into the punch. Pyrrha, Neptune, and the others followed suit, aiming for the same sucker.

There was a muffled, unearthly roar before the tentacle retracted, and to the crew's horror, took the trapped pirate with it, dragging him screaming into the depths below. Some of the crew rushed over to the side of the ship, peering into the waters but finding nothing.

Suddenly, a tentacle shot up out of the water, dousing the deck and disorienting the crew. By the time Yang gathered her bearings, she watched -seemingly in slow motion- as the appendage swept across the deck, knocking several crew members into the water and smashing the port-side railing. Neptune and Pyrrha had dropped to the deck, feeling a massive gust of wind just above their heads before they were alerted to the screams of the other pirates who weren't as lucky.

Yang watched helplessly as the men flew far out into the ocean, never to be seen again.

 _What the hell is this thing?_

"Yang!"

Blake leapt from the rigging, landing in front of the blonde captain. "I think I know what we are dealing with."

Impeccable timing. "Well let's hear it! Any information's better than nothing," Yang said, forcing herself to be calm and put the loss of several crew members in the back of her mind for now.

"I think we've encountered the Kraken," Blake said gravely, her amber gaze that was usually so stoic riddled with fear.

Yang blinked.

"What the hell's a Kraken?"

Blake nearly facepalmed. "How do you sail for over 15 years and not know what the Kraken is?!"

Her captain shrugged, though the motion had quite a bit of exasperation fueling it. "How am I supposed to know?! Nobody ever mentioned the thing so I never knew!"

"The Kraken is a legendary Atlesian sea monster. Its arms are said to be over 1/4 mile long. It is said to drag ships down to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again," Blake huffed.

"Yeah, that's great and all but that doesn't tell us how to beat this thing," Yang said, waving a hand at a cluster of limbs.

Blake shifted her gaze to the deck. "What I'm saying is… I don't think we _can_ beat it."

"You saying we should just lay down and _give up_?!" Yang's voice rose above the din of battle, stopping a few of the crew in their tracks. She could feel her blood begin to boil as she stared down her first mate. "We lost good men and women to this thing, Blake! We can't just give up!"

The Faunus couldn't bring herself to meet the captain's gaze. "I'm saying this is one battle that we can't win. That's all."

"Bullshit!"

The heat in Yang's voice startled Blake, forcing her to meet the blonde's gaze.

"I don't care if that thing is a _god;_ we're gonna find a way out of this. If we can't kill it, then we'll escape. One way or another, we're getting out of this _alive._ " Yang ran up to the bow of the ship, bellowing to the rest of her crew.

"Now's not the time to get scared! If we're gonna make it out of this, we gotta work together! Who's with me?!"

A roar of affirmation greeted her. She grinned at Blake. "Are you with me, Partner?"

Blake belatedly realized her mouth had been hanging open for a few moments, so she quickly closed it, forming her lips into a small smile. She nodded. "Always."

"Yang, wait! Don't do anything crazy just yet," came a shout from the mast, startling both of the girls.

Weiss had woken up from her impromptu nap and was waving at the captain frantically.

Yang and Blake shared a glance before hurrying over to the bound girl.

"What's up, Weiss? You got an idea?" Yang said once they reached the smaller girl.

"You said we're probably dealing with the Kraken, right, Blake?" the snowy-haired girl said hurriedly, wasting no time.

The Faunus nodded. "Judging by the size, there's almost nothing else it could be."

"In that case, I do have an idea." She untied herself from the mast, getting a bit of help from Blake and Yang to speed up the process, but held on to the rope.

"Let me get a look at the thing," she said, making her way over to the starboard side of the boat and peering over the railing, her grip on the rope, still connected to the mast, white-knuckled.

"From what I can see –which isn't much—the Kraken seems to be exactly like a regular octopus."

"So what's that mean?" Yang said, an eyebrow quirking up.

"It means that it will likely have the same weaknesses of an octopus," Weiss said matter-of-factly.

"Which are?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "The eyes. Octopi are known to have relatively large eyes for their body size, which makes them the perfect target."

Blake glanced over the side of the ship. "And how are we supposed to target them? They're completely underwater and there's no way to tell how deep they are."

Here, the smaller girl bit her lip. "We only have a few options here, and none of them are very good."

"Let's hear 'em," Yang said, nodding her head firmly.

"We can't move the ship, so the cannons aren't going to be a viable option. Our best bet would be to either drop something sharp into the eyes, or…" she hesitated, "someone will have to swim down there and attack them directly…"

Her voice had gone so quiet, even Blake's Faunus ears could barely pick up the words. "You want someone to swim down there?! Are you crazy?!" she shouted, making the snowy-haired girl flinch.

Yang rested a hand on her first mate's shoulder. "Weiss is right, Blake. There's not a lot we can do. And someone swimming down there is the surest option we have."

Blake whipped around. "You can't be serious! Even if someone went down there, there's no way they'd make it back!"

Yang raised her hands in a placating fashion. "We have to try, Blake. But that danger is exactly why I'm the one who's gonna do it."

Both Weiss and Blake opened their mouth to protest, but Yang held a hand up. "Look, I'm not gonna ask somebody to do something that would most likely get them killed. I'm the captain, so I've gotta do it. End of discussion."

She turned to face Weiss. "Now tell me how I'm gonna do this."

* * *

Yang stood atop the railing along the starboard side of the ship, peering briefly into the depths below before glancing up to the sky. The storm that had been a ways out was approaching fast; the water would become nearly impossible to navigate soon.

 _Figures._

Weiss had instructed Yang to take the rope she had been holding and tie it around her waist; if things went bad, they could pull Yang up at the very least.

The captain turned to address her crew, who were peering anxiously at her. "I'm gonna go down there and see if I can get it to let go of the ship. If I don't make it back," she shot a sad glance at Ruby, "I leave Blake in charge as the new captain. Don't try to save me if I don't return and you manage to get free."

She then glanced at Weiss and Pyrrha, who was now standing near her charge. "Weiss and Pyrrha are to be treated well. That is my final order. Clear?"

There was a brief murmur through the crew, but they ultimately agreed. Yang could see their hearts weren't in it, but there was nothing else they could do.

She turned back around, peering into the water once more to try and discern where the eyes were, before taking a deep breath and diving in.

* * *

The water was freezing, Yang noted once she was under the waves. Atlesian waters were always cold, but she'd never been forced to take a swim and realize just how _truly cold_ they were.

She tried to take in her surroundings as she swam deeper, but the water was murky at best. She would just have to keep swimming and hope she would find the body soon.

Yang had swam before, and had decent lung capacity, but she knew that she could not afford any mistakes under the waves. If she took too long, she would run out of air before she made it back up.

Weiss had said they would pull Yang up after five minutes, but that was still plenty of time for her to drown.

With that in mind, she swam further down, finally seeming to catch a glimpse of the main body. Weiss and Blake certainly hadn't done the thing justice; it was massive, far larger than the ship itself.

As she neared the body, she could make out bright yellow eyes just a few feet further down. They seemed to lock on her, following her descent without blinking.

For a tense moment, it did nothing, until a tentacle that had been beneath its body shot toward her at the speed of a cannonball.

She propelled herself out of the way, though her body was buffeted by the current left in the attack's wake.

The tentacle curled back towards her, attempting to strike her again before she narrowly swam out of the way once more, darting back near her previous spot.

She hurriedly swam towards the eyes, mindful of the attacking appendage, before she jerked to a stop, the pull of the rope forcing a bit of the precious breath from her lungs.

Yang whipped her around, horrified to find that her rope had gotten tangled in the tentacle.

The Kraken seemed to realize her predicament as well, because it quickly retracted itself, pulling Yang down towards the ocean depths.

She cut the rope as quickly as she could with her homemade gauntlets, cringing as she watched the half connected to the ship begin to float towards the surface. If she drowned, there would be no saving her now.

She redoubled her efforts, approaching the eyes as quickly as she could. Her lungs were burning, further irritated with each stroke. She blinked away the spots that were forming in her eyes, recognizing the signs of oxygen deprivation; she didn't have much longer.

Finally, she was in front of the left eye.

It seemed to stare at her, almost daring Yang to attack.

She obliged, and with as much force as she could muster, she drove her fist into the eye.

The effect was immediate, as an unearthly roar came from the Kraken as its tentacles retracted all at once. Its eye closed, trapping Yang's arm with it, before it began to retreat further into the ocean depths.

Yang struggled to pull herself free, but her strength was beginning to fail her as her oxygen depleted. With a desperate tug, she wrenched her arm free, though her gauntlet remained firmly trapped in the beast's eye.

She hurriedly turned towards the surface, desperately swimming up from the depths.

 _Shit._

Her lungs were screaming at her. She could hardly see with all the spots clouding her vision.

She kept swimming until she was forced to release all the air in her lungs.

* * *

Above the water, Weiss, Pyrrha, and the crew watched as the tentacles retracted, cheering loudly as their ship was released.

"Pull her up," Blake shouted.

Everyone sprinted to the rope, each taking a position and pulling as quickly as they could.

Immediately, Blake, Pyrrha, and Weiss could tell that something was wrong; the rope was far lighter than it should have been.

"Keep pulling," Blake ordered, pushing away the logical part of her brain that told her that Yang was not on the other end.

Weiss worried her lip, mimicking Blake's desperate persistence. Yang may be her captor, but she'd grown to like the brute more than she probably should. If nothing else, she didn't want her best chance of getting home safely to die beneath the waves.

All too soon, the end of the rope slid over the railing and onto the deck, confirming their worst fears.

Ruby collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the end of the rope where her sister was supposed to be. "Yang…" she sobbed, her voice no better than a rasp.

Weiss ran to the railing while Sun and Blake went to embrace Ruby, peering into the now-choppy waters below. The storm had finally set in, and if Yang was going to return, it would be even harder to do so than before.

She stared beneath the depths, praying to whomever was listening that Yang's blonde hair would rise above the waves.

"Come on, Yang… You have to make it back… For Ruby…" she muttered.

As if answering her prayers, a yellow dot appeared beneath the waves moments later.

"Yang!"

Before anyone could react, Weiss dove over the railing and into the ocean, ignoring the immediate chill that racked up her spine once she hit the water.

Once she got to Yang, she realized the blonde was unconscious, and that rather than swimming to the surface, she had merely been floating up.

At a speed she surprised herself with, Weiss grabbed Yang and swam upward, breaking the surface.

"Pyrrha! Yang's unconscious! Get her up there," she shouted above the roaring wind and crashing waves.

A rope was tossed down before Weiss secured it around Yang and called for them to pull the captain up.

A second rope was sent down for Weiss and she was quickly hauled up.

Wasting no time, Weiss rushed over to Yang. "She's likely been unconscious for a few minutes. We have to get air into her lungs."

She turned Yang's head, allowing the water trapped in her mouth and nose to flow out before she pinched the captain's nose and blew air into her mouth, watching for the rise and fall of the blonde's chest.

"Pyrrha can you do the chest compressions?" she said, waiting for the blonde's chest to fall again after another breath was pushed into the girl's lungs.

The Amazon nodded, linking her fingers and locking her elbows before pressing down on Yang's sternum several times. "Of course."

The initial crack that emanated from Yang's sternum scared a few of the crew members, but Blake, aware of what they were doing, assured the others that it was a natural part of the resuscitation and that it was no cause for concern.

Weiss and Pyrrha spent several tense moments alternating between breaths and chest compressions, Yang vomited. Weiss quickly cleared out her mouth before the cycle resumed once more.

The rest of the crew could only look on as the two outsiders attempted to save their captain's life.

When it became apparent that Pyrrha was getting tired, Blake took over for her, resuming the compressions at the same pace.

Another several moments later, Yang vomited once more, hacking up water and taking sputtering breaths.

" _Yang_!"

The crew erupted into cheers while Ruby all but collapsed onto her sister, sobbing into her soaked clothes.

The blonde captain let out an "oof" when Ruby collided with her torso, coughing at the force of the impact. Her eyes were still a bit glassy, and her mind was rather foggy, but each blink of her lilac eyes brought with them a bit of clarity and awareness. She was laying on her back, staring up at her crew that was shouting and cheering, tears falling from their eyes as they rejoiced. She turned her head ever so slightly to see Pyrrha laying a hand on Weiss's back as the smaller girl quickly wiped her eyes.

The last thing she remembered was running out of air as she tried to swim to the surface. She was sure that the bottom of the ship swaying back and forth along the waves was the last thing she would ever see, and somewhat begrudgingly made her peace with the surface world.

She glanced down at her sister, who was still sobbing into the blonde's thoroughly soaked clothing, smiling gently at the fact that she had been lucky enough to see her again.

Yang patted her sister's head, taking slow, deep breaths. "What happened to me after I drowned?"

She felt her skin crawl. Despite the fact that she was alive now, she had well and truly drowned, her consciousness departing from the world. She had practically kissed death full on the lips.

"Weiss and Pyrrha saved your life," Ruby bawled, her fists tightly gripping her sister's jacket.

"When we pulled up the rope and you weren't attached to it, Weiss saw you underwater and dove in to help you. When she saw you weren't breathing, she and Pyrrha resuscitated you," Blake said, wiping tears from her eyes."

Yang slowly turned her head towards her two captures. "Thank you."

Weiss huffed. "We were only doing what was right. And… people would be sad if you were gone." Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

The captain gave Weiss a tired smile. "I wanna thank you all the same. You both saved my life, and I don't know if I can ever repay that."

"Just focus on getting better," Weiss snapped, though there was no real anger in her voice.

Yang's smile widened at the dusting of pink on the girl's cheeks, but decided that if she wanted to stay alive for longer than a few moments, she had better not mention it.

The captain glanced at the battered ship, cringing at the loud creaking that came after every large wave. They would be lucky if the storm didn't finish what the over-sized octopus had started.

"I dunno about you guys, but I think I've had enough of the ocean for a while. Let's head for port."

* * *

 **And there's chapter 3! The bit about resuscitation that I mentioned at the end is the actual method to revive a drowned person. You can use it in real life should the situation ever come up. They do actually vomit too, so be prepared for that. If someone drowns, make sure to call your emergency responder number first before performing resuscitation. With that disclaimer and such out of the way, what did y'all think? I'm not completely happy with how this turned out, but I may go and make edits later. I hope this was worth the wait though! Also, the Kraken is a mythical sea monster said to dwell off of the Norwegian and Greenland coasts. Since I generally view Atlas as a European-esque place, I figured it would be a pretty good fit. Until next time~!**


	4. Offers and New Direction

**Hello, hello! Sorry I'm late with this chapter, but a lot of stuff happened in my personal life, including getting a job. And, I figured that since I was already late, I might as well take my time to make the chapter as good as possible. While doing that, I realized that what I was trying to accomplish had to be pretty delicately handled, so I had to make sure that I hit all the right notes. And speaking of that, I made some edits to chapter 3, so once again if you read it right away, I'd recommend going back and rereading it. I made some really important additions that affect the content of this chapter, so please reread it if you have the time! As usual, shout-out to everyone supporting me! I love y'all! Enjoy~!**

* * *

 _The Burning Heart_ creaked loudly as the ship cut through the waves, slowly heading for a port in nearby Vale. The frame was battered, with much of the structures above deck either being badly damaged, or missing altogether. The pirate ship was truly a shell of its earlier, proud self.

Atop the deck, the atmosphere was somber, a heavy cloud weighing on the members of the crew as they stood in a circle, their heads down and hands clasped together. Yang stood in the middle, while Weiss and Pyrrha stood off to the side, not wishing to intrude on an intensely personal moment between the crew.

Yang's head, bowed like the others, slowly rose, remnants of tears clinging to her eyes. Normally, she would swipe them away, but it was not the time for that; it was the time to mourn.

She took a breath. "I have been sailing on the high seas for almost as long as I've been alive. I've experienced many things and seen many people die. Today, we lost several good men and women to a creature of the sea. They fought valiantly against a monster; a veritable _god_ of the sea."

She paused to recollect herself, taking a few slow breaths before continuing. "We will never forget them or what they have done. As survivors, it is our job to honor the sacrifice they made in order for us to live. It is our job to _live._ Their deaths were not in vain; we drove that monster back to the depths, and we will do so again if it ever comes back."

She put on her brass knuckles and silently raised her right arm into the air. The other crew members drew their weapons, raising theirs as Yang had. "To those we have lost, we bid you a peaceful slumber. Rest well, my brethren!"

"Rest well, my brethren," the rest of the crew exclaimed, raising their weapons higher in something of a toast.

Weiss and Pyrrha had kept respectfully silent for the mourning, electing to let the crew mourn among their own, though they had bowed their heads in respect.

The crew took the opportunity to mourn with their closer friends and embrace one another. Some knew the lost ones well, weeping openly for their friends and lovers, while others stood by and comforted, their own sorrow far less painful.

Yang weaved through her crew, offering condolences and embraces for everyone who needed it or wanted it, before reaching Weiss and Pyrrha.

"I wanted to thank you both for the parts you played in taking down the Kraken. Without both of your help, I'm sure we would be slumbering at the bottom of the ocean by now."

"Of course," Pyrrha said quietly, her usual smile far more muted than normal. "We couldn't stand idly by when something of that magnitude strikes."

She offered Yang a hand, waiting patiently for the other girl to take it before shaking it gently. "I'm truly sorry for your losses. For everyone's losses. I only wish I could have done more to help."

Yang shook her head. "You did everything you could. Both of you did. I can't ask for more than that, but thanks all the same."

She then looked to Weiss. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The smaller girl shared a glance with Pyrrha before nodding and following Yang to a quiet corner of the ship. The captain gazed out into the open sea for a moment before turning back to Weiss and locking their gazes.

"I wanted to thank you again for saving my life. You had no reason to save the life of the person who kidnapped you, but you did anyway. Nothing I can ever do will be enough to repay you for saving me and not letting Ruby be alone."

Weiss shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't often she received such heartfelt gratitude, and so she did the only thing she could think of; brush it off. "W-well," she coughed into her hand, "you're the best chance Pyrrha and I have to getting back home alive, after all. Besides…" she trailed off for a moment, looking out into the rolling waves for inspiration. "people would miss you. I told you that before."

Yang stepped into her line of sight. "Do those people include you?"

Weiss would have thought she was joking if there wasn't a deadly serious look on the captain's face. She flushed slightly under the scrutiny. "… Perhaps just a little bit."

Yang stepped back a bit then, a soft smile on her face. "Thanks, Princess."

The captain made a move to rejoin the rest of her crew, but looked over her shoulder with a grin that was much more suited to the boisterous blonde. "And for what it's worth, I would have done everything I could to save you too."

She turned back around and rejoined her crew, unaware of the furious blush that reached the tips of Weiss's ears.

 _Just what is happening to me?_

* * *

 _The Burning Heart_ arrived at a modest port in one of Vale's many harbors a few days later, groaning as some of the crew hopped down to the pier to dock it. The near-wreckage of a ship was attracting quite a bit of attention from those nearby, though one could hardly blame them.

"Alright everybody, let's find a bar and drink away our sorrows," Yang cheered, grinning widely at the roars of approval that followed.

Weiss shook her head as she was assisted off the ship by Pyrrha. "I've thought this before, but pirates truly do seem to look for any excuse to get drunk, don't they?"

Pyrrha chuckled good-naturedly. "I'm certain it's true for many of them, but the same could be said for the workers on land. I've known many a person who has enjoyed their rum just as much as a pirate."

"Yeah! There are plenty of people who enjoy booze just as much as us," Yang laughed, slinging an arm around Weiss's shoulders. "So don't be such a stick in the mud, Princess! Live a little!"

Weiss felt her cheeks heat up, but she elected to ignore it, prying herself free from the captain's powerful grip. "I think not," she huffed, dusting off her clothes. "I will be enjoying my dinner civilly, thank you."

Yang shrugged, continuing to face Weiss and Pyrrha as she walked backwards to join her crew. "Suit yourself."

* * *

Weiss and Pyrrha seemed to be the only ones intent on enjoying their dinner civilly, as every other patron in the bar seemed to get swept up into the pirates' antics, laughing jovially and toasting the very people who might rob them blind the next time they met at sea.

Weiss huffed, taking a sip from her wine and nearly choking at the less-than-stellar taste. She should have expected cheap wine from a cheap bar, she supposed. Pyrrha on the other hand, was nursing her Mistralian ale and smiling at the commotion of the bar. She seemed to be handling the noisy atmosphere far better than Weiss was, who had barely picked at her dinner of fish cakes and steamed potatoes.

"I'm going to go outside for some air," the snowy-haired girl said about two hours after they had arrived at the tiny establishment, rising from her stool.

"Shall I accompany you?" Pyrrha asked, already preparing to rise from her own seat.

Weiss shook her head. "I'd like to be alone for a few moments."

Pyrrha let her go with a nod, watching her ward with careful eyes. Something seemed to be eating at Weiss, though she would not push the girl; she would share her troubles when she was ready as she always had.

Weiss exited the bar, shivering at the chilly air of the evening, a stark contrast to the near-stifling heat of the bar. She rubbed her arms and set out on a walk. Though she had no destination in mind, it would be nice to wander the quiet streets beneath the sea of stars.

She passed in front of various shops, their windows dark with only the distant light of a lamp outside to give her any indication of what was inside. A bakery; a cobbler; a bank; a bookseller; a butcher shop; a tailor. It seemed the town lacked nothing in the way of consumer goods. Perhaps there was a blacksmith or a postal center somewhere crammed in with the other shops.

She wandered for several moments more until she finally neared the entrance of the bar once again. She hadn't done much more than walk about and observe, but there was something immensely peaceful about letting one's mind rest for a while; there was no need to worry about everything all the time.

Weiss paused to gaze at a statue nearby; an Amazon raising their spear in triumph. While such a thing was commonly found wherever the renowned tribe left their mark, this statue in particular had something that was rather unusual; imperfections. These weren't merely imperfections from weathering storms or enduring the salty air, but ones that the artist had purposefully included; a divot in the arm likely represented a cut, the torn clothes representing the difficulty of the battle, a raised line along the collar representing an old wound that had long-since scarred over.

The statue was unique, full of life. It felt… _real,_ almost as if someone had been encased in marble and put on display. It was almost haunting to look at; a part of her expected the statue to turn its head and say something to her.

"Heeeeyyyyyy, Princesssss," Yang slurred, throwing an arm around Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss nearly screamed, forgetting for a moment that Yang had been the one to speak to her, not the statue. She raised a hand to her chest to try to calm her heart as it threatened to beat out of her chest at the scare.

"What do you want, Yang?" she huffed, a scowl marring her features.

The captain spun around to grab Weiss's shoulders and stare her dead in the eye. "Let's go star gazin' hehehe," she said with a giggle, taking Weiss's hand and dragging her along towards the docks without waiting for an answer.

Normally, Weiss would have protested, but the idea of just staring up at the stars sounded wonderful at the moment. It might help her to relax a bit more, which never really hurt.

When they reached the end of one of the docks, Yang plopped down at the edge, letting her feet dangle before urging Weiss to follow her lead. She took a swig from a bottle of rum she had brought with her.

Weiss did so, though far more gracefully than Yang had, gently sitting at the edge and slowly bringing her legs over. The ambient sounds of the gentle waves hitting the boats and the dock poles provided a nice soundtrack to fill the silence between them, Yang seemingly content to gaze at the stars like she had said. Weiss had been sure that the blonde would talk her ear off and do little actual stargazing.

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of stars above. Their sizes and brightness varied, but there was no doubt that they were beautiful, and somehow calming to look at. They seemed to put everything into perspective; that any struggles they were dealing with were small in comparison to the vastness of the sky above.

"You know, when I was a kid, I never thought I'd be a pirate," Yang said quietly, her gaze never straying from the stars twinkling at her.

Weiss raised a brow, electing to keep her own gaze trained upwards as well. "Truly? I would have thought that with your personality, you'd have jumped at the chance to live by your own rules."

Yang chuckled at that, though there was a hoarseness to it. "Even now, I don't really want to be a pirate." She glanced down at the water below. "My birth mom died during a storm, and my adoptive mother disappeared one day at sea. When my dad heard the news, he used his life savings to buy a ship and load it with goods to sell. He took Ruby and I with him and we became traveling merchants to try and find her."

She paused, looking at her hands briefly before clenching them tight, her jaw nearly cracking as she ground her teeth. "One day, we were sailing through Atlesian waters trying to find a good port to dock at and sell our goods, when an Atlesian Naval ship attacked us."

Weiss glanced over, finding that Yang's bangs hid her face, though it wouldn't take a genius to guess what expression she was making. Her heart ached for what would inevitably come next.

"They said we were trying to transport stolen goods, and when my dad tried to convince 'em we weren't, they killed him. Shot him right in the face, right in front of his two young daughters."

Yang didn't speak for several moments then, and Weiss let her be, pretending to not notice the tears that fell from the captain's eyes.

"They laughed after they did it. They _laughed_ after killing an innocent man. Then they just left us there; two girls who were too little to know how to sail left practically stranded out in the waters." Yang's voice was tight as she tried to rein in her anger.

"We made it to shore somehow, and I swore that I would make Tyrann and his pathetic excuse for a Navy pay for their crimes. All of my crew has some kind of grudge against Tyrann or the Atlesian Navy. We all want to get our justice." She barked a humorless laugh. "At least that's what some of them are convinced they're bringing about. It's really just glorified revenge… but it's still something I want."

She cast a furtive glance at Weiss so brief that the latter almost didn't notice it before looking back up to the stars.

"You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were just like him," she said quietly, but she might as well have shouted from Weiss's flinch. The captain didn't apologize for her words, but the look in her eyes told Weiss that she did have some guilt for her –truthfully justified—assumption.

Yang continued on after a moment. "It was only after our conversation when we imprisoned you that I realized that you were just as much of a victim of Tyrann as we were." She huffed a laugh. "Truth be told, I was ready to let you out of the cell the next day, but I had to get more of the crew on my side before I could. Everyone was convinced that by being born a Schnee, you were just a copy of Tyrann, and if I had just let you out, they would have accused me of turning traitor, probably tossing me into the ocean and killing you both. That's why I sent people in to talk to you, to see what you were really like and be willing to let you out."

She smiled softly, her eyes crinkling at the edges. "It took a while, and some of them were never convinced, but I managed to get most of them to see that you were different…"

Weiss was silent for a moment after Yang trailed off, waiting to see if the captain had more to say. "He gave me this scar," she said when Yang never filled the silence. She traced the length of the raised skin with her finger, the uneven feeling familiar to her. "I talked back to him one too many times as a child, and before I could even register it, he pulled out a dagger and slashed my face."

She could see the mixture of horror and disgust on Yang's face out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn't look at the captain. Something told her that if she did, something fragile inside her would break. She hurried on, ignoring the growing lump in her throat. "It bled a lot, so much so that the nurses said I had nearly died from it, and all he said was, 'I expect that you will learn from this, Weiss. You are never to talk back to me.'"

She barked a laugh, a rawness scratching at her throat. "I knew from that day that I wasn't a daughter to him, but rather a means to an end; an asset. The only thing I really learned was that he was too insane to try to fight openly. I figured that once I turned eighteen, I would run away somewhere and live out the rest of my life in peace."

Her nails dug into her thighs, leaving behind angry half-moon crescents. "He pulled me onto _The Kalt_ a few days before my birthday, almost as if he knew what I had planned to do and firmly crushed my hopes. If you hadn't come to attack the ship, I would have become the bride of a horrible man my father planned to punish me with."

"In a way," she said with a teasing smile, "I should thank you for attacking the ship."

Yang laughed, taking a large swig of the bottle of rum she had brought with her. "I dunno if I'd go that far, Princess. I still took you and Pyrrha hostage for a while." She stared out into the waters, idly kicking her feet. "I'm surprised you don't hate me because of it."

Weiss hummed. "I was more afraid than angry. I've something of a fear of dying at sea, and getting kidnapped by pirates was making that fear a very potential reality." She glanced at Yang. "I just put on a brave front when you came to talk with us. I don't hold any real animosity for you or the rest of your crew, especially since we were treated rather well for hostages."

Yang was silent for a moment, taking another long drink. "I've been… thinking about this since you saved my life, but I'd like to offer you and Pyrrha your freedom. It would set us back a bit from getting our revenge, but I wouldn't feel right keeping you as a prisoner and selling you back to him. I've come to like you, Weiss, which is something I would never have imagined happening when we first picked you up. I want you to be free from all this. We could drop you both off in some tiny port and he'd never know." She looked right into Weiss's eyes. "You could have that freedom that you dreamed of."

Weiss bit her lip. "Yang, I—"

She was cut off by the captain falling forward, just barely reacting in time to catch the blonde. "Yang? Yang, are you alright?" Weiss nearly panicked, until a loud snore nearly ruptured her eardrums.

 _She actually fell asleep? And right in the middle of an extremely important conversation, too._

Weiss huffed, but slowly lowered the captain's head until it rested in her lap. She doubted Yang would wake up easily if she fell asleep mid-conversation. Absently, she began carding her fingers through golden curls, admiring how they practically shined in the light of the moon.

Clearly the captain had been drunk, so how much of their conversation was honest and how much was from the alcohol? For now, she settled on bringing it up again when the blonde was sober. Truly, the offer was tempting -and she fully intended to take the offer eventually- but hearing Yang and her crew's motivation for pirating had set a spark aflame in her heart. She knew how terrible her father was, and she'd certainly heard nearly endless rumors of the cruelties of the Atlesian Navy, so it hardly came as a surprise to her that there were people who wanted revenge.

She wanted to stay and help these people; help the victims get their revenge, justice, or whatever they wanted to call it. In truth, a darker part of her wanted to exact her own revenge. She'd held on to her anger for years and let it stew beneath the surface, though it was practically bubbling over now.

 _Tyrann Schnee will pay for his crimes. Him and his band of lackeys._

She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps creaking along the dock, the telltale sound of Pyrrha's boots quelling her fears of the guest being a potential intruder.

"Having fun?" came Pyrrha's voice, soft with a laugh.

Weiss turned her head ever so slightly, a wry smile on her face. "Very much so. I've always enjoyed becoming an impromptu pillow."

Pyrrha giggled softly, bending down to pull Yang into a sitting position and bringing one of the captain's arms over her broad shoulders. "Shall we put Captain Xiao Long to bed?"

Weiss rose, shaking out her legs to rid them of the pins-and-needles feeling. "Yes, as I don't plan to stay out here all night." She dusted off her clothes briefly before taking Yang's other arm over her own smaller shoulders.

As they slowly made their way to the ship, Weiss spoke up quietly. "Yang offered to let us go, though she was drunk when she did. She said it didn't feel right to keep people she liked as hostages or something to that effect."

Pyrrha blinked, but otherwise hardly reacted. Her emerald gaze slid to Weiss. "And? Do you intend to take the offer?" The Amazon knew that the only reason they were having this discussion was because Weiss was conflicted about something. Otherwise, she would have taken the chance as soon as it was offered.

Weiss bit her lip. "I intend to eventually." Her own ice-blue gaze slid to her guardian. "I heard her story –her reason for being a pirate—and I can't resist the desire to help her. She and the crew have suffered at the hands of Tyrann and the Atlesian Navy, and they want their rightful revenge. I want to help them; both for their sake and my own." She traced over the scar bisecting her eye with her free hand.

Pyrrha simply nodded. "I'll follow you no matter what you decided to do. After all, what kind of a guardian would I be if I let my ward head into danger alone?"

Weiss laughed softly. "I appreciate that, though I would not hold it against you if you wanted to leave."

"I'm content with my decision to defer to your judgement," Pyrrha said with a bright smile.

Weiss shook her head fondly. "Don't say I didn't offer." Her words were sharp, but her tone was warm, fond even. Pyrrha had been there for her for a long time, and even when she was about to head directly into danger, she went along with a smile. What had she done to deserve the Amazon?

 _The Burning Heart_ came into view then, and Weiss honed in on it, scrutinizing the ship with a gaze that could make even the harshest military commander wither. "If we are going to do this," she muttered, "we will need to do this right, and I know exactly what we will need to do."

 _Justice is coming, Tyrann. Just you wait._

* * *

 **Again, I'm super sorry for being so late, but I wanted to get everything just right. Hopefully I did that. Let me know what y'all thought! The next chapter will be out on time I swear! Unfortunately, my job's hours make finding time to write a little tricky, so I'm trying to figure out how to adjust to my new schedule. It's only for the summer, so once I head back to school, everything will be back to normal again. Until next time~!**


	5. Strategy Can't Ease All Fears

**Hello, hello! I'm late again but better late than never, right? I'm planning on participating in Freezerburn Week so it's captured a lot of my attention as of late. This story is heading into the home stretch, so I'm gonna put priority on finishing it sooner than later. I'm not great at predicting length, so I'd say that a general guess is about 5 more chapters max, though likely less. Who knows though? As usual, a huge thank-you to everyone supporting me and this story! Enjoy~!**

* * *

Yang was awoken bright and early the next morning by Weiss practically shaking her awake. The smaller girl had a scowl on her face that only looked angrier due to the long shadows cast by the early morning sun. "Get up," she said, practically throwing the captain's clothes right into her face.

Yang sputtered, pulling the clothes away from her face as she did so. "What's the matter? What's wrong?" She wiped a bit of drool away from the corner of her mouth; clearly she'd snored last night.

Weiss pulled the curtains completely open, basking the room in light that was frankly far too strong for Yang's hungover eyes and head. "Nothing is wrong, Yang. It's simply time to get up. We have a lot of work to do."

The captain shielded her eyes, squinting at the snowy-haired girl in front of her. "'Work to do?' What do you mean?" She sat for a minute, staring at the ruffled sheets as if they would give her all the answers she was looking for.

"…Are you talking about repairing the ship?" she asked after a minute. "We've already got the crew working on it so there's no need to worry."

Weiss put her hands on her hips, giving the blonde a stern look. "I'm not worried about that. We're going to discuss how we're going to get revenge on Tyrann Schnee."

Yang blinked. That certainly hadn't been what she was expecting. "Revenge? Is this about our talk last night?"

"So you remember," Weiss said with a raise of a brow.

"Yeah, though I think I fell asleep right after offering you and Pyrrha your freedom. I didn't get to hear your answer."

A part of her hoped that Weiss would stay; she still hadn't repaid her for saving her life. And more than that… she had really grown to like Weiss, but a small, incredibly vocal part of her mind was practically screaming that she and Weiss couldn't be together; a captor and their captive having any sort of romance seemed… off to her. Still, it was hard to ignore what the heart wanted, especially when the heart wanted someone who was incredibly beautiful, smart, and courageous.

She shook her head and shut her eyes, waiting for Weiss to respond.

"Right. Pyrrha and I will be accompanying you and your crew in order to exact your and our revenge. Tyrann Schnee will pay for his crimes, mark my words," Weiss said darkly.

Yang's head shot up, her mouth hanging open. "You… you want to help us get our revenge?"

"It won't just be _your_ revenge," Weiss said, running her fingers over her scar. "It'll be my revenge as well."

She snapped her fingers then. "Now get up! We can't give Tyrann his just desserts if you sleep the day away."

"Wait," Yang muttered, holding her throbbing forehead. "You've got a plan?"

Weiss scoffed, the sound distinctly unladylike. "Of course I do. Don't you have one? Or were you planning on simply charging in there like lunatics and getting yourselves killed?"

At Yang's sheepish grin and shrug, the smaller girl sighed, rubbing her own forehead. "I figured as much. That's why I'll be working with all of you to sort everything out. I'm intimately familiar with what Tyrann has at his disposal, and I _fully_ intend to make use of that knowledge."

"Now get up," she said with a huff as she exited the room.

The captain blinked, before slowly getting out of bed and changing. Weiss seemed confident, she mused, but there was no telling what she had in mind. Yang was no fool –she knew that the sheer number of ships Tyrann had at his disposal would destroy them and salt the earth beneath them—but she had to trust in Weiss and her knowledge.

 _Hopefully the rest of the crew will too._

She exited the room, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

* * *

"Listen up everyone," Yang bellowed, standing at the end of the dock. _The Burning Heart_ creaked nearby, the battered frame barely holding together. "I've gathered you all here today to formally plan how we're going to get our revenge on Tyrann Schnee."

She gestured for Weiss to stand beside her. When they were side-by-side, Yang wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulders. "And Weiss here is gonna help us do it."

Not a moment later, angry shouts erupted throughout the crew.

"How can you trust a _Schnee_ to help us?!"

"You can't seriously believe she'd help us slay her own flesh and blood?!"

"She's going to betray us, Captain!"

Weiss expected there to be backlash, but to hear such vehemence behind it after she helped plan their escape from the Kraken and saved their captain's life hurt. It was as if what she had done didn't matter to any of them. In a way, she expected it, given her family's infamous reputation, but it still came as something of a betrayal. _It hurt._

" _ENOUGH!"_ Yang boomed, silencing the din of angry shouts in an instant.

"Weiss _more_ than proved her trustworthiness when she saved my life, not to mention how important she was to our escape from the Kraken. She _belongs with us_. If you _bastards_ can't get that through your thick skulls, you can find your own ship and crew to exact your revenge with. And if you've got something you want to say to her, you can say it to _me_ instead. Am I clear?" Her tone brooked absolutely no room for argument, the clear venom and heat behind her words promising serious repercussions.

When no one raised any further objections, Yang's posture relaxed a fraction, though she still looked ready to fight at the slightest provocation. "Good. Now, Weiss says she's got a plan, which is more than anything we ever had, so keep your traps shut and listen up."

Weiss, for her part, had lost focus during Yang's orders. The captain's passionate speech had ignited a flame in Weiss's heart, warm and comforting, like an embrace in the dead of winter. A place to belong was something she had always yearned for; the only love in her house came from her sister, who had her own responsibilities and little time for anything else.

Perhaps some of them would never accept her, but that hardly mattered to her; after all, what was a few more to add to the already expansive list? She only needed a few people, and it seemed she could count Yang and some of her closer crew members among those few.

She blinked when she noticed a hand waving in front of her face. "Weiss? You in there?" the captain asked, lilac eyes looking over her with worry.

"Yes, I'm fine. My apologies for losing focus for a moment," Weiss said, giving herself a mental shake.

Yang gave her a sympathetic look, resting a hand gently on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I don't think it'd be easy to plan an attack on your own family, no matter how bad they are." She squeezed then. "You want to postpone this? We can talk about it with just a couple of people if that'd make it easier. I can announce our plans for you too."

The captain's concern brought a small smile to Weiss's face. "Thank you, Yang, but I'll be fine. Announcing it to the crew like this will make them trust me more, which will be vital to the plan."

She smiled softly. "I really appreciate your concern though."

Yang felt her face flush, but she hurriedly pushed the feeling down. "Y-yeah. 'Course." She coughed into her hand, straightening back up to her full height. "Alright you lot, Weiss's gonna lay out the plans now. Listen up!"

Weiss stepped forward, drawing herself up as tall as she could, although vexingly that did not amount to much. "I would like to start by saying that everyone here, including myself, has been wronged by Tyrann Schnee, the man whom some of you claim to be my father. I will make this clear: that man is _not_ my father, nor will he ever be. He severed those ties when he gave me this scar." She touched the raised skin that bisected her eye.

The fervor in her voice startled the crew, as they looked between each other. They were unsure what to make of the former heiress's declaration, so they remained quiet, watching her with curious and yet suspicious eyes.

"Now, as for the plan, we are all aware of the fact that the Atlesian Navy is the largest standing navy in all of Remnant, and by quite a large margin at that. With one measly ship there is no way we will be able to launch a head-on attack. Thus, I propose that we employ subterfuge and strike him when he thinks he has won."

"How are we gonna do that?" Sun shouted from his place along the riggings.

Weiss nodded. "First, we will send him a letter, detailing Yang's terms for my 'ransom payment.' Knowing him, he'll want to repay us for his humiliating defeat, so he will accept the terms and direct us to meet with him at one of the major Atlesian ports."

"He'll be waiting to trap us," Blake murmured, arms crossed.

"Exactly," the snowy-haired girl said. "He believes that pirates are all fools, so he'll think that we will fall directly into his trap being none the wiser."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Won't he account for you?"

Weiss barked a laugh, though she quickly covered it with a dainty cough into her hand. "No, he won't. He thinks I'm nothing but a foolish girl whose only worth is her ability to marry into a wealthy family and expand the Schnee influence."

A bang startled the crew, and a quick glance to the port side revealed a positively seething Yang, her fist splintering the wood of the port railing. " _Bastard._ "

Weiss went to her, laying a hand on the captain's shoulders as the captain herself had done earlier. "I appreciate you being angry for me –it means more to me than you know—but this works to our advantage." She turned back to the crew, keeping her grip on Yang's shoulder, grounding her. "He expects that I am being treated as a hostage would normally be treated, so any warnings I would ever try to give would fall on deaf ears, though I doubt he would imagine that I would try to warn my captors of a trap. Regardless, he will not expect any sort of strategy on our part, and that is what we will exploit."

She reached out, laying her free hand against the battered wood of _The Burning Heart._ "We will fortify the ship, both the actual structure and the weaponry. We need to increase the number of cannons and improve their firing power."

"Wait…" Neptune said, squinting at the damaged vessel. "I thought you said we weren't going to attack head-on. What's the point of upgrading the ship then?"

"We aren't." Weiss removed her hand from the ship and settled it on her hip. "The most important part will be when the actual exchange happens. No doubt he will try and kill everyone after he's recaptured me, so the crew off the ship will be crucial to the success of the mission. However, the crew manning the ship will be important as well."

She stepped forward, making sure to keep a hand on Yang's shoulder, who seemed to have calmed somewhat at the contact. "The moment the attack begins, it will be absolute chaos. I expect Tyrann will have ships waiting to blast _The Burning Heart_ out of the water, so it is critical that the ship will be able to survive the onslaught, as we might have to make a hasty getaway."

"The crew on the ground will be critical in that they will be the ones who will capture Tyrann. If we can capture him, we can force the Atlesian Navy to stand down and ensure a clean escape."

Yang stepped forward then, standing tall alongside Weiss. "This plan's really risky, but it's the best one we've got. A lot of us probably won't survive this, and that's why I'm gonna give everyone a chance to leave. If you don't wanna risk your lives, you can stay here and we'll wish you well. I'll speak to each of you in private about your decision later. For now, let's get to work on repairing the ship."

The crew dispersed quietly, a stark contrast to their usual boisterous energy. The plan seemed to weigh heavily on their minds, but they set about their work regardless, some leaving to gather supplies from the market, while others began to repair the ship. The remaining crew ducked below deck, taking stock of the weapons, cannon balls, and food.

Yang and Weiss had retreated back to the end of the dock, observing the crew out of the way.

"I've been wondering about this for a while," Weiss started, "but why didn't you kill him when you first took me hostage?"

Yang flinched at the reminder of their less-than-ideal first meeting, though a gentle touch to her arm relaxed her. "We were actually fighting about that right up until we boarded the ship. Most of them wanted to kill him right then, but the other half felt like that would be too merciful, too quick of an end for a man who has caused so much pain."

She looked out to the water. "I was one of the ones who wanted him to suffer a bit before he died. I'll never forget what he did to my father, to Ruby and I, and I want him to know exactly why he will die at our hands."

The captain glanced at Weiss, a conflicted look marring her features. "It feels weird to say considering he's your—"

" _Don't."_

Yang winced, the fury in Weiss's eyes leaving her feeling as if she was staring the Kraken in the eyes all over again. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She had forgotten so quickly, though it had always struck her as odd that the former heiress never referred to Tyrann as her father, but rather simply by his name. It made sense now, but she still felt like an ass for forgetting the fervent declaration from moments before.

Weiss released a breath, visibly deflating as she did so. "I won't say that it is fine, though you meant no real harm, but I do not want to be reminded that I share blood with him… especially by you."

Her eyes softened then. "However, I accept your apology."

Yang smiled slightly, nodding. "Let me say something else then; it feels weird to say that I am glad we took you hostage."

Weiss raised a brow, though she looked somewhat amused. "Oh?"

"I've…" the captain ran a hand through her bangs, "I've grown pretty fond of you. Perhaps some of it comes from you saving my life, but another part of it has nothing to do with that. From the moment I saw you huddled below the deck, I was struck by how… beautiful you are."

Weiss flushed, feeling heat reach all the way to her ears. "You—beautiful?!"

Yang grabbed her hands, though her grip remained loose so Weiss could shake her off should she so desire. "It's true! I'm sure it was love at first sight! And the more I got to know you, the deeper I fell, but I couldn't act on my feelings."

Her face steadily reddened. "I was afraid the crew would toss me overboard if I declared my feelings and released you. And…" She looked away then, shame crossing her features. "It felt… wrong to court you in that situation, like I was forcing you to be my lover in exchange for your freedom or something like that. I… I didn't want you to be forced to do something you didn't want to do."

The captain's eyes were watery, a single tear slipping free and painting a trail down her face

Weiss reached out and brushed the tear away, her fingers gently caressing the brawler's cheek. "And how do you feel now?"

Yang sobbed, unable to hold her emotions in check any longer. "Like I'm still taking advantage of you. How can I possibly ask you to love me when we are planning the murder of your _father_? I know you don't want to associate with him, but I can't help but feel like a monster! I can't help but feel like his death would widen the space between us! I—"

She was cut off by soft lips pressing gently against her own roughened ones. Her eyes widened, the image of Weiss kissing her burning into her retinas, the soft feeling of Weiss's lips branding her skin. It felt right, but so very wrong, and yet she couldn't help but press back, tilting her head and deepening the kiss. Still, the moment was fleeting.

Slowly, the former heiress pulled away, her eyes opening at the same pace.

"It's alright, Yang," she murmured, her thumbs rubbing gentle circles over the backs of the captain's hands. "I understand what you are saying, and I understand your fears."

She looked into amethyst orbs then. "However, I cannot answer you just yet. I cannot say for sure that my heart will not be embittered after exacting our revenge, and thus I must selfishly ask that you wait for my answer until we have achieved our goal. Will you do that?"

"I will," Yang said firmly, squeezing Weiss's smaller hands in her own. "I'll wait as long as I have to, even if that means that I will wait until the end of my days. I will wait for you, Weiss."

The former-heiress smiled. "Thank you, Yang."

She stepped away, heading back towards the ship, her eyes softening. "Now come, we had best help with the preparations. There is much work to be done."

* * *

 **And done. Ok, so I didn't plan on having that conversation go where it did, but I'm pretty happy with it regardless. Yang's fears stem from inciting Stockholm Syndrome in Weiss, though such a term doesn't exist in High Schnees since Stockholm isn't a place there. She's afraid that she's either forcing Weiss into a position where she feels like she** _ **has**_ **to love her to earn her freedom or that she's put Weiss in a state of false love. Basically, I'm trying to avoid that like the plague, but it's hard to say whether or not I'm succeeding. Anywho, the story's winding down, so I hope y'all will stick around for the conclusion. Until next time~!**


	6. Communication Breakdown

**Hello, hello. Finally updating after so long. Enjoy~!**

* * *

Modifications to the ship were well underway, the ship being taken apart and rebuilt from the hull up. Structural integrity would be paramount to the success of their plan, so rather than make it a sleeker, faster ship for a quick getaway, the goal was to create a dreadnaught, a veritable bastion among ships. Anything less would be blown to bits by cannon fire should things not go exactly according to plan. There would be no margin for error –they either escaped with their lives or died trying- so they had to take every precaution.

Yang oversaw the rebuild, ensuring that the ship's progress was moving smoothly and that its specifications were up to what they needed to be. She checked with Weiss frequently for advice on improvements or points to focus on, like reinforcing the hull with metal to allow it to break through lesser ships should they be barricaded into port like Weiss predicted.

The rest of the crew was buying up as many cannonballs and supplies as they could, stocking up for what looked to be the veritable apocalypse. Some took their weapons to blacksmiths to have them sharpened, repaired, or modified, while others sought out gunsmiths to improve their blunderbusses or pistols. There would no doubt be a battle on land where the exchange would take place, and as such, all this was critical.

Pyrrha helped the crew that would be on the ground to train, running a sort of pseudo-Amazon training regimen for them to improve their strength and technique. They were going to be outnumbered, so they would have to rely on skill to keep them alive. Not all of them would make it back, but it was important to minimize casualties.

Weiss had locked herself up in her room, running numbers and trying to predict all possible scenarios -if they approached this way, what were the chances of being ambushed before they even attempted the exchange- Such questions were pondered as she drew out chart after chart.

She was in the middle of predicting the probability of their escape if they managed to capture Tyrann alive, when she heard a knock at her door. "Come in," she said, keeping her eyes trained on the documents in front of her.

A whistle rang out in the cramped space. "It's starting to look like a strategist's quarters in here," Yang said, taking care to step around papers that had scattered onto the floor. "You doing alright?"

Weiss looked up, aware that she must have looked exhausted by the concern present on Yang's face. "I'm just tired is all. I want this plan to be a success, and I want us to escape with as many of the crew as physically possible. All this is necessary for that end."

Yang nodded, before sitting herself in an open spot at the foot of Weiss's bed. "I appreciate that, but I don't want you to collapse over it either. If you get sick, there's no one else who will be able to plan this out as well as you. We'll run the risk of losing more people if something happens to you."

She looked at her hands then. "And I don't want you to exhaust yourself because I care."

She jumped when Weiss laid a hand over her own, smiling gently. "I appreciate your concern, Yang, but this is necessary. Everything needs to be perfect to minimize casualties. Everything we are doing is to minimize casualties."

"I get that," Yang said, "but when people are involved, nothing can be perfect. We are imperfect at our core, and there's no way we can predict everything that will happen. There's too many variables."

Weiss sighed heavily. "I know that. I _know_ I know that, but I have to try. Any error I make in planning could mean someone's life is lost. I… don't know if I'll be able to live with myself knowing that a mistake _I_ made lead to someone's death."

Yang pulled Weiss into a hug then. "You're not alone in this, Weiss. You've got Pyrrha, Ruby, Blake, Sun, Neptune, and the rest of the crew. And most of all, you've got me. No matter what happens, I'll be on your side."

She tightened her hold for a second before pulling away just a bit. "And you know that there's a chance that as soon as some of the crew sees Tyrann, they'll abandon any plan you've got in favor of trying to kill him, right? Some of them won't be thinking clearly when the time comes."

Weiss blinked at her before putting a hand to her forehead. "Of course. Why didn't I consider that? It's so painfully obvious and I missed it."

"Guess that means it's time for a break, huh?" Yang said with a laugh. "Come on, let's get you some lunch. Blake makes a mean tuna sandwich."

Weiss sighed, but she smiled as she did so. "A tuna sandwich sounds lovely right now. I must admit I'm starving."

"Great! Let's get some food and fresh air in ya and then you can get back to work afterwards." Yang put an arm around Weiss's shoulder and led her to the galley.

A break would certainly do her good.

* * *

After Weiss had taken her break and returned to her quarters below deck, Yang gathered up the crew members who were the most hell-bent on revenge, taking them to one of the docks to speak with them away from the others.

"What's up, Captain?" one of them asked.

Yang cleared her throat. "I know you all have suffered greatly at the hands of Tyrann, but I need you all to have a clear head when the time for battle comes. If you can't manage that, then Weiss's plan will be ruined."

"Who can guarantee that her plan isn't to betray us and go back to her father?" one of them grumbled.

"I can," Yang said firmly. Was there a chance that very thing could happen? Yes, but it was miniscule. She had faith in Weiss, and she would place her trust in her. "There's no way Weiss will betray us."

"You can't know that for sure, Captain. That _bastard_ is her father after all," another shouted, garnering murmurs of agreement throughout the group.

Yang grit her teeth. "She explicitly said that he wasn't her father. He gave her the scar over her eye, and with that, he basically severed their connection. He is no more her father than the average man walking through town."

Sure, she'd had her own doubts and insecurities about Weiss's ability to attack the man who had once been her father, but Weiss had reassured her and made it abundantly clear where she stood. There was no room for doubt in those icy-orbs, and they had convinced Yang of Weiss's conviction.

"Captain, how can you trust what _she_ says over the words of your own crew?! Have you forgotten what her father did to yours? Have you forgotten how far we have come to get our revenge?" another crewmember shouted, anger thick in his tone.

"I haven't forgotten," Yang hissed, her anger splitting between what Tyrann had done and the dissent of her most stubborn crew. "Of course I haven't forgotten, but I also am not blind enough to lose sight of everything else in my anger, which you lot seem to."

An angry murmur swept through the crowd. "Even if you don't trust Weiss, she is our absolute best chance of success. Can't you see that? Without her we have no plan, and no chance, so why can't you understand that this is our best shot?" Yang said, her nails digging crescents into her palms.

"Because you can't trust a Schnee!"

Yang was stunned for a moment, unable to find her words. "You… you're wiling to ignore your best chance for success based on the fact that she _was_ a Schnee?"

"That's right! Getting help from a Schnee would be a betrayal to all that we're working toward," a girl shouted, garnering shouts of agreement.

Yang shook her head. "I can't believe all of you. You're so blinded by your hatred you won't even accept help from the best chance you've got of getting out alive."

"And what about you, Captain?" a young man seethed. "Are you sure you haven't let your attraction for the Schnee daughter blind you to the chance of betrayal? We've seen the way you two have gotten closer, and it's disgusting! It's a betrayal to your sister and your father!"

"Don't you _dare_ use my father's memory to bolster _your_ idiocy! Don't you _dare_ bring Ruby into this," Yang boomed, silencing the crew instantly. "You've all got a lot of nerve to use my family against me. You're lucky I don't beat you all to a pulp right here, right now."

She looked each one of them in the eye then, and many would later swear they shone a blood red. "Let me make this _crystal_ clear; if you won't abide by my decision to trust Weiss and her plan, then you can leave right now. We don't need dumbasses who are willing to risk everyone's lives for their own satisfaction. Got that?"

Some left immediately, practically tripping over themselves to flee from their now-former captain. A scant few remained behind, glaring at her with all the intensity they could muster.

"Something you want to say?" she breathed, fire lacing her words.

"Yeah, actually," a burly former crewman said. "You think we're just gonna let you throw your weight around and ruin everything we've worked toward? Not a chance."

A young woman stepped up to Yang's left. "You're gonna give up your captain's hat and leave the ship behind."

A middle-aged man circled over to her right. "We're not gonna let your little foolish infatuation get in our way. Hand it over and get lost."

Yang's gaze flitted to each one's tense form. "And if I refuse?"

The burly one shrugged. "Then we're gonna have to make you give it up by force."

"You really think you can do that?" Yang asked, slowly reaching into the pockets of her captain's jacket to retrieve her brass knuckles. "You've all seen me in a fight. You really think any of you will be a match for me?"

"Maybe not individually," the young woman said, "but I doubt you'll be able to take all of us on at once."

Yang snorted. "Right." She rolled her shoulders and raised her fists. "I'll take my chances."

"Have it your way then," a dark-haired one said, pulling out their cutlass.

Yang had counted 6 of them total, and fortunately for her, none of them had ever been anything special when it came to combat. If any one of them had been as good as Ren or Nora, she might have been in trouble.

They charged her then, two hanging back to wait for a lapse in Yang's defenses. The burly man had elected to forego his cutlass in favor of coming at her for a straight-up fistfight. He swung his fist downward, like a hammer coming down on a nail, but she slipped underneath his arm, getting in close and delivering four quick strikes to his solar plexus. He crumpled into a heap, allowing for the dark-haired one to hop over him and swing their cutlass down on her.

Yang blocked it with her brass knuckle, deflecting the strike away from her body. She drove a right cross into the side of their jaw, seemingly knocking them out cold. Quickly, two more came up behind her, one swinging upward, and the other horizontally, as if they were trying to behead her.

 _This would have been a lot easier with my gauntlets,_ she mused, ducking the horizontal slash and sidestepping the upward strike. The two pulled back then, switching their attacks to a downward slash and a diagonal slash. Yang jumped back out of the range of the diagonal strike and sidestepped the following downward slash. The middle-aged man's blade stuck itself in the dock, and he struggled to pull it free, panic in his eyes as Yang stepped on the back of the blade and drove an uppercut into his chin. He flew off the dock and into the water with a resounding splash.

Yang only had a second to yank his cutlass free to block the strike of the young girl, who had yet to take a hit from her former captain. Yang wasn't a fan of blades, but her knuckles could only block so many strikes, and missing would lead to a lost limb.

She threw the blade at the girl, immediately rushing low at her and sweeping her legs as she attempted to dodge the hail mary. She hit the dock with a thud, and Yang immediately drove her fist down, knocking the girl out cold.

The two who had hung back rushed at her then, shouts on their lips as they brought their swords down on her. Much like the middle-aged man, their blades stuck into the dock, and before they managed to pull them free, Yang delivered a kick to one and a punch to the other, sending them sprawling into a heap.

Yang rose then, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

"I'm not done yet, _Captain._ "

Yang whirled around just in time to take a punch to the jaw, sending her staggering back. She wiped at her mouth, feeling a bit of blood trickle from it. "Got me good there, Junior," she said, spitting some of the blood into the water.

He shrugged. "You didn't knock me out like these other chumps, and that was your mistake."

"I'll be sure to fix it," she said, readying herself again before running low at him. He was prepared this time, watching her more carefully than he had before, and he swung one of this fists at her, using her dodge against her and delivering a swift kick to the gut. It knocked the air from her lungs with a gasp, and he capitalized on that by whirling around and driving his elbow into her back, sending her smashing into the dock. To add insult to actual injury, he swiftly and brutally stomped into her back, knocking the wind out of her once more with a wheeze and a hacking cough.

"Ready to give up yet, Blondie?"

"Not a chance," she spat.

"You always were stubborn to a fault. Guess we're gonna have to finish this up the hard way," he said, raising his boot once more.

As he brought it down, she rolled out of the way, using the momentum to rise to her feet. Before he could react, she delivered a swift kick to the back of his knee, collapsing it so he dropped to a kneel, before pulling her arm back and driving into the side of his skull with everything she had.

He crumpled into a heap, joining his fellows in defeat. With a sigh, Yang fished one of her former crew out of the water, checking for breathing and plopping them onto the pile.

She headed back down the dock, wincing with every step. She'd have to get her injuries checked out when she returned.

* * *

Yang made her way below deck, waving off concern along the way, and quietly reassuring Blake that she was fine and the dissenters were dealt with. Of course, Blake raised an eyebrow, but elected to trust Yang's judgement and let the whole thing go.

She'd almost made it to where they stored the medical supplies before she heard a door open and a loud screech of "Yang?! What happened to you?"

She winced, not entirely due to her injury, before turning around and giving Weiss an awkward smile. "Oh, hey Weiss. How are the plans coming along?"

"Don't try to change the subject! What happened to you?" Weiss said with a glare, fussing over Yang.

"I… uh… settled a disagreement with some of the crew," she said evasively.

Weiss looked terribly unamused, merely an eyebrow raising in question that silently commanded her to elaborate and continue. It had frightening power, and Yang gulped.

"Look, I went to go talk with some of the people who were most likely to ignore the plans when the negotiations went down, and they were unwilling to trust you because you were a Schnee." She sighed. "They also accused me of being blinded by my attraction to you, and tried to use my father's memory to coax me to their side."

Weiss simply nodded, allowing Yang to continue at her own pace. The only indication of her emotions at that moment was a furrow to her brow, but nothing more.

Yang clenched her fists, nails digging half-moon crescents into her palms. "I convinced some of them to leave and never come back, but there were a few who stuck around to try and get me to give up the captain's position. They wanted me to relinquish the ship my father left Ruby and I, and for me to leave."

She jumped when she felt a damp washcloth press against her cheek, but quickly leaned into Weiss's gentle touch. "Obviously, I ignored their demands, and we got into a fight. I'd taken almost all of them down except Junior. You remember him?"

Weiss hummed for a moment, recognition splashing across her face shortly after. "Was he that really large man? The one with short black hair about the size of a horse?"

Yang nodded. "That's the one." She removed her shirt, so Weiss could start taking care of the bruises on her back and torso, ignoring the heat in her cheeks with a cough. "Anyway, he got me good a couple of times, and that's how I got these bruises and the busted lip. He got cocky thinking he'd beaten me, and I made him pay for his mistake. He's probably still passed out on the dock with the others."

"Do you think he'll try to get revenge?" Weiss asked, worry coloring her tone.

Yang snorted, though winced at the action immediately after. "Junior's an idiot, but he's not a fool. He learns his lesson pretty quick." When Weiss didn't look convinced, Yang laid a hand over Weiss's. "It'll be fine. He's not gonna try and sabotage us or anything like that. I promise you."

Weiss worried her lip, but seemed to accept Yang's consolation with a sigh. "If you say so. But, please, try not to pick any more fights before we execute the plan. We need you in peak condition for this to work."

"You got it, Princess."

"And Yang?" Weiss said quietly, so quietly that Yang had to strain to hear it.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for sticking up for me. I've... Nobody has ever done that for me before. Thank you."

Her gratitude was so sincere, so raw with emotion, that Yang felt herself matching that same vulnerability.

"Of course, Weiss. I'll always stick up for you."

 _Always._

* * *

 **We've got probably 2 chapters tops left. I hope y'all will look forward to the conclusion. Until next time~!**


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